All Forum Posts by: Michelle Bright

@Katie Fiola Jones That is great!!! I am so excited for you!! I hope you love it. It just makes a lot of sense for agents that have multiple careers and obligations. The amount I am making from Redfin is all going in savings for our next property and I have made thousands already since January. It has really accelerated our savings! It's going to help us with the downpayment on an investment property in Chicago which I should say is not a "cheap" market. Go make that money honey!! Congratulations!!

Hi @Katie Fiola Jones !! I am so glad to hear that you got the AA position with Redfin!! I have been an associate agent with Redfin since last fall and I love it!! I am a duel careered REALTOR and I love my other career so I wasn't interested in becoming a REALTOR full time. In all honesty, I became an agent years ago to learn how to be the best investor I could be. I started at a small property management company, then moved cities and started working as an independent agent with KW. I love KW. I have read all of the Keller Inc books and believe in the models and systems. However, I just didn't have the time I wanted to devote to my career as an independent agent, a landlord, a therapist (my other profession), my family and achieve all of my other goals. Redfin has changed the game for me! Honestly, the pay is great and the stress of doing transactions is gone! Now I get to meet and help people while staying involved in the real estate community. Feel free to message me about it. I am happy to help!!  And the pay is actually quite good!! I hope you took the position!!

Hi @Daniel Porter . Welcome to the community!! What is your goal with your house hack? Are you worried about the ARV because you will be selling it in the somewhat near future? if you aren't honestly, I wouldn't worry so much about the ARV. The beauty in my opinion with house hacking is the momentum your build by living for free or close to free while your tenant pays your mortgage down. Even if that is for only one year.

Secondly, how leaky is the basement? A little leaking is common in our area. Our basements are not finished so it is not an extreme deal breaker for us as it would be if it were a finished basement. If you are able to address it and the numbers still work again, I say go for it. 

Good luck! Let me know if I can help further!

Diving into the book already!! I was so excited to get it in the mail. We started our path to FIRE almost two years ago. We plan on both being retired by my 40th birthday 11/20/2026. Thank you @Chad Carson for writing such a great book to keep up us motivated. I know this book is going to help us fine-tune our plans and possibly get us to FI even sooner!

This was truly one of the best shows ever! I have listened to it twice already! Thank you @Brandon Turner @David Greene and Rock Thomas for such an inspirational episode!! You have changed the mindsets of so many! 

Hi @Karina Torres ! Welcome to BiggerPockets! You are going to love this community! Over time you'll get clear on your goals and a path to get there using the resources provided on BP. I would suggest diving into the podcast episodes. They have been life changing for us and I am sure for most of the active members on this site. As for learning how to increase your current cash situation you should listen to the BP Money podcast. 

When you get your license to be sure to find a broker that can help you grow! Let them know your goals to be an investor. Keep your goals front and center...you'll eventually find a brokerage that can help you achieve them. Mentorship will come to you hopefully in the form of your managing broker. At Keller Williams, I also have a coach. If you want, feel free to reach out to me and I can tell you more about KW.  

Congrats on getting into real estate!!!!!

@Ho Eun Park I manage Two of our properties, a total of 6 units from 3 hours away. When we lived in the same town I learned everything on YouTube. There are some great recommendations in this feed! One other idea would be to find a company that has a “peace of mind” package. For example we use a company that services our AC units and HVAC once a year for $195 (highly suggested by the way) and with that service we get priority on appointments, 10% off all services and regular (instead of surged) pricing if we have something that needs to be addressed after hours, on the weekends or holidays. It is a 365 24/7 company that provides us a lot of peace. We know that if a pipe bursts on Christmas Eve we can get it addressed. Look for a company like that in your area. Those in NE Indiana the name of the company is Korte Does It All.

Hi @Rich Hupper ! This is a great question and can be done legally. We purchased our first home, a duplex with a FHA loan and occupied half of the property and rented the other half. My husband’s employer moved us right about at the one year mark of owning it, 163 miles away. FHA guidelines allow one to obtain a second FHA loan if extenuating circumstances move you over 100 miles away from you primary residence (our duplex). The move was out of our control with his same employer. We were able to obtain a second FHA loan for a triplex even after renting for 8 months (no time restrictions from 1st to 2nd FHA). We didn’t break any laws. In IL each side of a transaction has to have an attorney. Hope this helps. It can be done but the easiest way is to move. I suggest reading the actual guidelines which you can find online.

Hi @Courtney Fricke ! Congratulations on your decision to house hack! We are on our third house hack and ran into a similar issue here. Although there are three gas meters for each unit there are only two electrical meters. We are on the top floor and have our own meter while the tenants on the lower two floors share one. We were not able to have the meters submetered. I searched the internet but from what I was able to determine, triplexes are too small to submeter. If someone knows anyone in the Chicago area that can submeter please let me know. Anyways, we put the account on a "budget" plan so that every month the bill is the same until it is rebalanced around the 3-month mark and then every 12 months. Both tenants then split that cost equally. It is also written in their lease. I would say to ensure payment do a thorough screening process. At the end of the day that is what's going to ensure you always receive payment, especially since you'll be living there. I give them a copy of the bill on the 20th of the month and have them pay it when they pay their rent on the first. Good luck! 

Even if you have to keep it in your name or pay the bills yourself buy a house hack anyways! Just build the average utility cost plus a cushion into your numbers.

@Jen Nguyen I became a real estate agent so that I could pay myself when I buy houses. Although you don't need your license to invest it has helped me a lot by obtaining it. Having it allows me to not only to buy, sell and pay myself but it helps us on our taxes since we are investors (ask your CPA about being a "real estate professional"), allows us to view homes when we want, I can lease property in my state and it allows me to be a property manager. All in all though you don't need it. Depends on if the cost and time are going to be worth it for you. Good luck!