All Forum Posts by: Chace Fraser

Hi @Kim Talana and welcome to the forums! As far as lenders go here's my take; as a Realtor myself I find it easiest to have my clients go through lenders I have worked with before. The reason is I know which lenders:

do a good job

stay on top of the necessary tasks

know how to be creative within the rules (some people don't fit into the standard mold of a buyer, and some lenders don't know how to get them approved, and some lenders know how to get them approved)

and which lenders can actually close deals.

Another reason is, as someone like you who wants to invest, not all lenders are experienced in it. So my recommendation would be to have your agent recommend a lender to you. That's why I think it's important to work with an agent who has worked with investors before and therefore worked with lenders who have worked with investors before.

Someone on BP from that area that I see is active is @JD Gunter. I couldn't get his name to tag so here's his profile link: https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/JdG7#0 

Hi @Carter Thomas  the Kelso/Longview market is a nice location with good employment and jobs. In the Portland/Vancouver market it is very difficult to find MF properties under $300,000 but I do know there are a couple duplexes under $200,000 and the rents for a 2/1 are around $900 in Kelso... 

Hi @Ryan Rupe ! I will agree with @Mark Sewell ; the Kelso/Longview market is a nice location with good employment and jobs. In the Portland/Vancouver market it is very difficult to find MF properties under $300,000 but I do know there are a couple duplexes under $200,000 and the rents for a 2/1 are around $900 in Kelso.

Hi @Ron Russell and welcome! We are a lot of members in the area who are very active. And there are a lot of  events in the area for investors of all types. Never be afraid to reach out and/or ask questions... you'll get a lot of valuable input!

What type of investing do you, or are you looking, to do?

Hi @Josie Brilowski and welcome to BP! Some people will tell you it’s irresponsible and to pay off all of your loans first and some will say they get a higher return on their investments than the interest rates they pay on their loans so the money is better spent investing in real estate. Another option, very “Rich Dad Poor Dad” style, is to buy an asset to pay off the liability. The question becomes how comfortable are you with debt? What is important is that you have all of your finances in order and are prepared (mentally and financially) to invest if that’s what you decide to do.

Listening to the BP money podcast and the ChooseFI podcast can help you build your financial education as well.

@Kenneth White I wouldn't expect to live for free if you're only putting 3.5 percent down (at least it doesn't happen in my market). You will get the benefits of owning real estate though. One thing you'll want to make sure: if you purchase the property would it at least be cash flow neutral/positive after you move out? It's not the end of the world if it's not cash flow positive when you live there and you have to pay a little bit, but you need to make sure it will float once you move out; otherwise, it's a bad deal.

@Caleb Webster people can buy a prefab ADU from them for I believe $125K or they can lease their land to dweller. The cliff notes for leasing the land to dweller are 1) they need a large enough flat space to put the unit with proper setbacks (about 26x45 I believe... typically in our area that requires a 5,000 square foot lot), 2) dweller will pay for the install including permitting and bringing in utilities but the owner has to remove any landscaping etc to prepare the site, 3) dweller has a land lease with the property owner that allows them to rent out the ADU (of which the property owner gets 30 percent of the monthly income (gross I believe)). The lease is in 5 year increments. After every 5 years one of 3 things happens; the property owner can buy the ADU, Dweller can renew the lease, Dweller can not renew the lease and take the ADU back. At any point the property owner can purchase the ADU. Every year the purchase price decreases by $5K until after 25 years the property owner owns the ADU. Dweller will also pay any increase in property taxes.

They will also come out and look at a piece of property and give you a yes or no whether it will work.

Check out their website; it's got a lot of great info.

Hi @David Nino Jr and welcome to BP! House hacking is an incredible way to get into buy and hold real estate investing with a relatively low financial barrier to entry… plus the added benefit of reducing housing costs! What could help out the most is just talking with people. Go to meetups and speak to anyone with knowledge about real estate. If you're looking to house hack, three types of people I recommend talking with right away are a realtor, lender, and a property manager.

You can search MeetUp.com or go here for local BiggerPockets events. 

Hi @Account Closed congrats on the purchase! Is it an SFR or multi-family?

Hi @Kenneth White. House hacking is an incredible way to get into buy and hold real estate investing with a relatively low financial barrier to entry… plus the added benefit of reducing housing costs!

Keep in mind, if you are using a low down payment, it's not really realistic to expect to be cash flow positive. When an investor is looking at being cash flow positive, they are typically putting down 25 percent or more. If you are in a high demand metro area, it's simply not realistic to expect to be cash flow positive if you are putting down 0-10%.

Best of luck and keep us all informed!