All Forum Posts by: Mariah Porter

Thanks for your kind and thoughtful reply. I have done some more digging into the issue and discovered an old drain of some kind underneath a big cement patch under the carpet.

I've had several issues with my first property (that I am house hacking) and have already had to pay for multiple costly repairs. 

I recently discovered some swelling baseboards in my laundry room, signs of water intrusion and got a foundation and basement waterproofing specialist to come out. He said that I've got water under the foundation and basically surrounding the house and that I would need to have them come in jackhammer around the entire perimeter of the interior and install water guard drainage pipes and a sump pump and dehumidifier under the stairs. 

He quoted me about $17,000 and that's not even including the restoration of the drywall, baseboards and carpet after they remove it, as well as getting an electrician to run an electrical outlet under the stairs to power the sump pump. I'm trying to find a second opinion, and hopefully a third opinion but having a hard time finding another company that deals with this kind of thing.

Has anybody had to do this type of thing to their own property? Does this price seem reasonable? Is this the only solution?

I'm feeling pretty discouraged because if I have to pay ~$20,000ish to deal with this it will absolutely destroy my cash flow, but if I tried to sell without fixing this problem I think I would end up taking an even bigger loss. 

I appreciate any comments from those with relevant experience or insights. 

Hi all,

I just purchased my first property that I am house hacking and I would like to track my expenses and profits. I have scoured the internet to find a P&L template but can't seem to find anything that works well for real estate. Does anyone have any recommendations before I attempt to build one with my probably less-than-adequate knowledge of excel?

Thanks!

I just bought my first single family home that I will be house-hacking. I have 3 extra bedrooms to rent out. I would like some advice on how I might deal with the issue of roommates breaking something in a common area. 

For example, somebody makes a big burn mark on the butcher-block countertop. Nobody admits that it was them. Can I include something in the lease that states that repair costs of common areas will be split between all security deposits equally if nobody admits fault?

Since renting to roommates is a little different than just renting an entire unit to tenants, what other suggestions do you all have of things I should make sure to include in the lease?

I'm very grateful for any advice I can get from those with experience in this area!

@Matthew Kirkwold

When I toured it, there wasn't anything immediate that needed to be rehabbed. The roof and sewer line were both replaced within the last couple years and they just added more insulation and replaced windows on the main floor. All in all it looked to be in really good shape.

I'm inexperienced so I'm not 100% sure the best way to budget for capex. The calculator I use just estimates 15% of the rental income for maintenance and capex combined which doesn't strike me as the most accurate way to do it but I'm not sure how else to go about it.

I would love to go multifamily if I can find anything. They're scarce around here. I did just read someone's post where they talked about a direct mailing campaign to find off market multifamily deals. So I think I'm going look into trying that here.

@Danielle Jackson how do I find out the rent projection for a certain area?

The range on rentometer is really big, 1400-2300 and only based off about 10 rentals. I'm seeing comparable properties listed for about 2000. Of course just because they're listed doesn't mean they're going to end up renting for that price...

@Nicholas L. Southeast Idaho. I would be asking 500 per room, not 700

@Brian G. All good points! I did tour the property and I do like it. According to Rentometer average rent for 1 bed 1 bath apartments in the area is about 750

@Patrick Murphy thank you for sharing your thoughts! I agree that house hacking is a different situation than traditional REI.

I think I would need tenants pretty quickly. I do have a decent amount of cash reserves but I don't have a ton of financial flexibility through my current income.

@Lisa Mejias I am not certain, but I'm not sure I can ever be certain. I know a few people who rent out rooms in their houses and one only charges 360 but others charge 5-700