All Forum Posts by: Masyn Grant Barney

Out of state vs. in state is such a great question. I personally believe you should start in your own backyard and find a way to make it work. The strategy may change, but every market can work. You just have to solve for how. 

Once you have done it in your own backyard and know the demand of owning RE, you will be much more ready to buy out of state. If you can house hack where you are at, that alone will be enough learning to give you a good taste of what you might be looking for. Happy to chat more sometime!

The purpose of the post was to generate discussion. Which I think it has done quite well at that. As you can see, most people commenting are adding in their thoughts on how to make a multifamily property pencil in this market. Those posts help to further the discussion and give new insights to how different investors might be able to get creative. 

If you don't wish to add, you are simply being a troll. Thanks for playing.  

 No I would not say this is the case anywhere. However, Colorado Springs is quite similar in fundamentals to Utah so I’d say it most likely applies in your area. Cashflow is scarce and much more difficult to find. 

I find it quite common that many people listen to the numbers that were thrown out on early episodes of BP and assume those same numbers are realistic today, and that’s just not the case. 

Markets change and what works in one market doesn’t always work in the next. 

airdna.co is the best website for getting STR data

We have a builder here in Utah that is building single family homes with fully separated basement ADUs. They come with fantastic insulation between the floors, extra parking on the side with a separate entrance, their own laundry, and plenty of bedrooms up & down. My favorite has 5 bedrooms up and 2-3 down. So the basement ADU brings in plenty of revenue to make the upstairs owners mortgage liability equal to that of a small townhome.

I think this will become much more common in areas where people are being priced out of the market. Lenders can use legal ADUs to help qualify for the mortgage, so people that didn't even want to house hack before, may be in the market to do so simply to afford the type of house they want. 

@Fumi Maher, I'm not from Austin but I will give you the advice I give those here in Utah (most of which should transfer just fine) 

Renting by the bedroom seems to bring in the best cashflow. So whichever type of property, rent by the room if you are up for the extra management burden. Sometimes condos/townhomes are better at attracting young working professionals given that they are usually in more densely populated areas and often will have amenities that come with the HOA like pools, gyms, etc.

Buying a multifamily property tends to be better for scale. Here in UT we have strict occupancy limits in college towns of 3 unrelated people per unit. So renting by the room doesn't work as well there. Many just ignore the zoning rule though. That occupancy limit is often why many go with a duplex given they can rent to family and make more than they can renting to 3 singles. But 4+ singles works great if you can make it work. 

Hopefully that was helpful! I think both are great options and you can't really go wrong if you are going into it openminded. 

Like others have mentioned, FHA is not the only way to go low down. Especially if you can get sellers to cover closing costs, a 5% down can be a great option. I even have seen lenders recently with a 0% down loan that was not limited to first time home buyers.

So find great lenders and explore your options with them. 

There are so many ways to house hack. Many people think of only one or two ways. But anyway you can leverage your primary residence to make $ and lower your personal mortgage obligation than you are house hacking. 

Townhome/condo/SFR - rent by the room

ADU / multifamily units - self explanatory

Storage / Space rental - Rent extra space/bedrooms/garage for storage, driveway for car parking, etc. Here in UT there is a cool company www.neighbor.com that is the Airbnb for storage. 

Do whichever best suits your personal situation! 

Beneficial Ownership Information Reports

Are they actually going to fine people $591/day for being late? Or all together forgetting?

I just did one for an entity I created this year.

It has been 89 days since formation.

I was 2 days away from being late, and potentially opening myself and business partner up to fines of $591/day.

It just seems like there will be many that fail to file their report and I just can't see the government really going after tiny businesses for so much money for something that is so easy to forget to do.

Thoughts?

I would only compare to 2 unit multis