All Forum Posts by: Kyle Kleiman

@Joel Florek If you are absorbing some of the typical PM roles, what are you paying them? My first concern with this type of strategy was PM as well, but it sounds like you have it covered. I grew up 45 minutes away from Iron Mountain in Escanaba, so I find this whole thread especially interesting. How has your experience with contractors been up there? I figure there are probably quite a few in the area but some may not be quite as reliable. I sent you a PM request, would love to chat further!

Hello!

As the title states, I am deciding whether to start my investing career by doing a live-in fix & flip or by "house hacking" a 2-4 plex. My girlfriend and I currently live in the midwest. She has a year left in college then will graduate with her master's degree. I have been working in sales for almost a year and have been slowly saving up cash for a down payment. In the future, we would like to get into multifamily to build up a passive income stream. To start things off, we are planning on doing either a live-in fix & flip or a house hack with a duplex. We are conflicted on which route we want to take. 

My girlfriend's parents have done several fix and flips (her dad is a GC) and would likely help us out, although they do live a few hours away. We aren't looking to buy a total dump, just a home that needs to be updated and fixed up. Major foundation changes, plumbing, electrical, etc would likely be off-limits. We are both hard workers/high energy (not necessarily incredibly handy) and wouldn't mind doing the lion's share of the work by ourselves. Pros to this approach would be lower starting cost (I am still saving up money for a down payment) and not having to deal with tenants. Additionally (I may be off-base here) but I think another benefit to a fix & flip to me would be the personal experience of rehabbing a home. Things like how much certain repairs cost, what to look for when when buying a property to rehab etc. I find that I learn and retain knowledge better in hands-on scenarios. Cons to this approach would be no passive income and (likely) less equity when all is said and done. 

The house hack is a little bit different as I don't know personally know anybody who owns apartment units. However, a majority of investors on BP say they started with a house hack so it must be a decent place to start! That said, I am having trouble on criteria if I decide to go this route other than it would be a 2-4 plex with an FHA loan. I assume we would self-manage for this first property until we start to build up some reserves but can't say for certain. Pros to this approach would be the passive income from the other units and building more equity off the bat. Cons to this approach would be dealing with tenants (if we self-manage) and having to put down a larger down payment.

Anyways, I'm excited to hear some feedback and see what everybody thinks!

Hello everyone!

Just wanted to introduce myself. I am a new RE investor starting out in Southeast Michigan. I graduated from college last spring and have been working in medical sales for almost a year. My girlfriend's parents have been doing live-in flips for the past 10 years, and that exposed me to how profitable a little extra work can be.

After another year or so of saving up money for a down payment, I plan on buying a house to fix and flip over the course of a couple years. I would love to parlay those earnings into a down payment on a multi unit rental property. This is my plan as of now, but I'm sure plenty will change in the next few years! I have been listening to plenty of BP podcasts and doing whatever reading I can. Looking forward to learning more!