All Forum Posts by: Kyle M Miller

@Jenni Rivera from what I gather, there's no requirement to reside in the property. That said, they give an advantage to owner-occupied buyers (they get a chance to bid first).

@Michael Noto thank you for the detailed advice.

That separation between HomePath and Homestyle finally makes sense. I'm definitely interested in foreclosed homes so I'll keep an eye out on HomePath, etc.

The more I hear about house hacking the more I wish my wife and I considered that prior to purchasing our primary residence a year ago. It's still an option and a great move financially, but the lifestyle transition isn't exactly appealing. That said, given our cash position, it's easily the most feasible way for us to get our feet wet. Your third bullet is an especially interesting argument that I haven't heard before...

We've got a little time before we're going to make our first investment, so I'm trying to learn as much as possible and keep my options (and my mind) open. Maybe convincing ourselves to house hack would be worth it!

@Michael Brady We're in the early phases, still getting up to speed and doing our homework. Once we're able to speak more intelligently to our plans, I'd love to pick your brain a bit more. Thank you!

Hi folks,

I've been reading a bit about HomePath (by Fannie Mae) and trying to get a sense of what experienced investors think of it as a starting point for new investors.

www.homepath.com

Why my wife and I are considering itL

• 10% down payment
• No requirement for using it as a primary residence

The properties seem to be in various states of disrepair (some of them mostly cosmetic) which doesn't scare us, we can source contractors and do cosmetic work ourselves. Inventory is low in our area, but we have time on our side to keep an eye out.

Also, there seems to be confusion around HomePath vs HomeStyle; from what I gather online they're not the same thing, but some people here insist that they are. Any clarity here?

We'd love your thoughts on a new investor considering HomePath as an option to keep up front costs low and get us started more quickly.

Thanks in advance!

@Ryan Smyth can you elaborate on cap rate compression?

Seattle is a bit of an impact crater. Anything around it within 10 miles is absolutely exploding, not a great time if you're just trying to get in.

Luckily, we've got geography on our side. Realistically, if you work in Seattle and have a family, you're probably looking North or South (as west is the ocean and east is a traffic nightmare). We're just outside of that 10 mile radius of Seattle to the north, which is much more suburban, family-friendly. We're thinking that in the next 10 years, growth and price will force more and more people in our direction. It's already starting to happen to some degree. Our hope is to buy as soon as we're able so we can capitalize on that.

@Shawn Q. House hacking is absolutely tempting. My wife and I have a bit of a mental block; we just got out of the world of shared walls last year, and it's been a relief to have our own space. I'm not closed off to the idea, but it would have to be an unbelievable deal which could be tough in my area. I'd like to exhaust other options before that, as lucrative as it may be.

If we had thought of it prior to getting our primary residence, it's the first thing I would have pursued. But, it would be a big lifestyle change for us. I won't rule it out, of course, we'll just have to see what pops up in the next 12 months.

@Brian Hughes there's an interesting thought! It's amazing to hear how much you might find by taking it slow and visiting areas, and you might just find something that hasn't hit the MLS.

Do you have any books / further reading on landlord-tenant laws in WA/King/Snohomish counties you could share? That's something that I really want to be well-versed in.

House hacking is not off the table, but would also be a hurdle for us lifestyle wise. We've had our primary residence for a year and having our own space (finally) has been a breath of fresh air. If an unbelievable deal came a long we'd have to consider it, of course. I may kick myself for this thinking down the road; it's obviously a solid financial move. But, quality of life matters too.

I read about "HomePath" by Fannie Mae recently which allows for 10% down payments, but doesn't require it to be your primary residence. I'm still doing research but it seems like a reasonable place to start building a portfolio.

@Ryan Smyth thanks for the tips. I've heard before that driving is a good method for getting to know the market. We plan to invest nearby where we live to start out, which is a head start in understanding as we "know the areas to avoid." 

We're north of Seattle, which is in a boom because of lucrative Amazon jobs amongst other tech kingpins like Microsoft.  To the north of us, we have Boeing. Competition for housing is fierce around here.  When searching for our primary residence, we lost our first bid because we were competing with 27 other offers, several all-cash.

It's going to be tricky. My gut tells me that there's a big market for people moving into the area with families, etc, looking to "try before they buy" in regards to choosing a more permanent living situation. Hopefully, we can keep our ears to the ground for multifamily houses that might serve this demographic (working at Boeing, Amazon, Microsoft, etc)...

@Ryan Smyth makes sense. It seems like the best way to build that knowledge is taking action, making offers, etc... I'm going to be combing through the forums that are market specific to see how other people approach the greater seattle area.

@Nick Rinnert thank you for the quick tips! Are you by chance going to the Marysville meetup on the 22nd? We're going to attend to start getting our feet wet.

The cash reserves part is the biggest hurdle. We've got a partner for our first buy (probably 12 months out) to help get things moving, but we're working on improving our cash position so that we can jump on deals as they come.