All Forum Posts by: Logan Fast

I have the opportunity to put a small portfolio of 7 units (a fourplex and 3 houses) under contract in a small town (Red Oak, IA) which is about 45 minutes outside of Omaha. I have no interest in holding these properties but I do think there is an opportunity to wholesale. Assuming this is a good deal, what would you do? 

Hey Brian, something I would look into is specifically renting out to traveling nurses and other medical professionals. I get a request here and there for my air bnb from traveling nurses who are willing to pay much more than what is typical since they are on shorter leases, and the property is about 15 minutes away from the med center. It looks like there are a couple sites - corporatehousingbyowner & travelnursehousing who focus on this specifically, but you should be able to find guests through air bnb and homeaway as well. It will probably be more work and more money, but definitely something to look into being so close to UNMC. Congrats on getting your offer accepted!

MI is mortage insurance, which I believe is typically referred to as PMI (private mortgage insurance). From what I was told, if you use the 5% down conventional loan then you will also have PMI, but it will automatically fall off once you have 20% equity in the property. You can just make the additional payments later if you wanted to get rid of that PMI. With an FHA you would have to refinance into a conventional loan at some point for the PMI to fall off.

@Marcus Ethen I agree with @Matt Morgan about comparing the interest rates on your loans against your ROI from house hacking. Typically, getting into one of these places for 3.5% down FHA or 5% down conventional gives a much better return than paying off the loans. One thing I've noticed in the past year when searching for these types of properties is that nobody really likes to sell to someone using an FHA loan. It takes longer to process and there are hoops to jump through that involve the seller making repairs that they would rather not make.

I came across someone offering a very similar package a couple weeks ago... I’m guessing it’s the same person. I went to a house that he said needed 10k in work. In reality, it probably needed 10k in cosmetic work and needed to be completely rewired and the foundation has some serious issues along with refinishing a bathroom. You could probably put the bare minimum into it and get a tenant in there to bring in solid cash flow, but if you actually put in the work to make the place safe and up to code then there isn’t much return, if any.

@Gagan P. sorry I never saw your reply. I did end up getting Yale smart locks with a Samsung Smartthings Hub. I can create as many codes as I want from an app on my phone, delete them right when a guest leaves, and it allows me to see when a guest uses the code. Great investment for a short-term rental.

What's the interest rate on the mortgage? 4%? It shouldn't be too hard to get a higher return putting your money somewhere else. It's hard to say which option is the best, but #1 is the worst in my opinion. You could put a 20k down payment on 3 more houses with that money (or a 60k down payment on multifamily) and cash flow more plus you would have more equity being paid by tenants.

I would suggest calling 15 more banks. Or find someone in your market that’s done this and ask them how. It only takes 1 yes.

Daniel Thomas tagging isn't working on the app for me

I had the same concern when I was looking for a place to house hack. I remember someone saying their lender was understanding that they had to honor the lease and they wouldn't be able to move in for a few months, as long as they moved in as soon as it opened up. I ended up buying a place with a vacant unit so it didn't become an issue, but you don't want to pass up a good deal just because there's a couple months left on a lease! I'd check with a few different lenders to see what their policy is.