All Forum Posts by: Nicholas Johnson

For what it's worth, I'm a bigger fan of the terms "Residual Income" or better yet "Ongoing Income." This is income that comes in over and over after the initial work is completed. Passive denotes something for nothing. Ongoing income takes a lot of effort on the front end but comes in waves over and over on the tail end of your blood, sweat and tears. There's no such thing as a free lunch. 

Robert Kiyosaki popularized the term in his books. If you haven't read Richard Dad Poor Dad, it is a total game changer. His book Cashflow Quandrant also dives deep into the subject. Both books would be really helpful to you if you're looking to learn more about passive income. 

Hi Jacob, I am actually in a similar situation right now looking to do my first house hack on an FHA loan. There is a duplex with an adjacent SF home. It looks like the owner split the lots -- why they would do this is beyond me. ha! Nonetheless, as lending talks are underway I'm trying to figure out the same thing: can we buy both under an FHA? As mentioned above, zoning could be a problem - is it zoned SF or Multifamily? I checked our county plat maps and found the two lots have separate zoning. Right now, I'll probably reach out to the city and see if there is a way to rejoin the plats and zone them both under multifamily. I think it's really going to come down to what my lender wants to see though, and if I can get the bundle offer accepted.

Appreciate the 203K FHA recommendation above! I'll let you know what my lender comes back with. I would be curious to know how things work out for you man. Please keep us in the loop!

I hear ya Kyle - yeah I am super grateful for BP. From what I've been seeing single family residencies can also be a great way to get started! Gotta love it. Thanks for reaching out - good to meet other locals on MPLS area. Cheers.

Thanks for the encouragement Eric. This is definitely a journey I'm excited to be on. I'd be open to hearing more about your experiences -- did you do a house hack too? I'd be curious to hear more about that!

Thanks for the tip on the shotspotter John. Yeah, I've found S. and W. Minneapolis to be a bit rough around the edges - NE seems to be a soft spot for less crime. Do you keep more to the outskirts or suburbs then? Thanks for the input my friend. 

Nick

Hey Guys! Nick from MN here.

So excited to be joining this amazing community of entrepreneurs and investors. Bigger Pockets has been a GOLD MINE of information and I'm sucking it up as much as I can - through podcasts, books, etc. Here's some background on where I'm at in the purchasing process -- any advice you guys have is more than welcome!

My plan is to start with a "house hack" and get into a multi-unit property in the Minneapolis/St.Paul area. I've been looking heavily in a few areas and really trying to hone in on a market to target. I've heard about the BRRRR method and that is in the back of my mind as kind of the jumping off point from the duplex. First things first though -- get the multi-unit property purchased on an FHA through a local bank.

I've got little cash on hand but am putting away about $1500/mo. now, with 5k already in the bank (emergency fund). I'd like to leave that untouched. I'd prefer to keep the purchase under 200K but willing to go to 250K and figure it out. I'm not really looking to rehab this first duplex but I'm pretty handy and could see myself getting into some Single family homes from there.

Actions I've been taking: Searching Zillow / Realtor.com to find something that would cash flow when I move out, and at least break even or cash flow while I live in it. Driving around and looking at a few of the listings I find (no real hits yet -- couple of "wow, no wonder it hasn't sold yet" moments). And I plan to go for a drive this Saturday to get more familiar with a potential area to focus in on.

One thing I've been doing to find a good area is going on a couple city's economic development websites, and they have their city plan in there so you can read about what areas they are looking to cultivate and which areas maybe are less attractive to buyers. It was super helpful. Anyway enough with all my ranting. Want to say thanks to Bigger Pockets for putting this site together. I'm super grateful to have found the podcast/website and look forward to your suggestions / meeting you!

Nick