All Forum Posts by: Nicholas L.

@Thomas Farrell

house hacking is an equity building strategy.  yes, you might pay more to house hack than to rent a cheap place, but the idea is that you're offsetting that with the rental income and building equity.  you can also house hack a single family and rent rooms out to friends.

how many have you looked at?  how many have you made offers on?  you may need to cast a wide net.  i would encourage you not to give up.

@Chike Onyia

just to clarify something, BRRRR is an equity strategy, not a cash flow strategy. if done right, you'll have tons of equity that you forced, and little or no cash flow whatsoever.

hope this helps.

@Evan Hooke

you're missing a couple things on house hacking.

1. house hacking gives you access to owner occupant financing, which can you let you put less down.  this is huge.  talk a lender and explore loan options.

2. you can still house hack and rent out most or all of the property.  rent out all the bedrooms to your friends and sleep in a closet or in the basement.

3. house hacks aren't meant to cash flow.  and who cares about netting $28 a month when your friends are paying your mortgage?  equity paydown is way more valuable than 'cash flow.'

@Rachel Seymour-Newton

OK - a few red flags so far: you are not seeing it yourself, and you did not screen the tenant.  that certainly makes it higher risk.  FaceTime just isn't the same as being there in person.  do you have a property manager lined up?

it sounds like you're calculating expenses correctly, but if this property is listed on the market i am still skeptical that you'll cash flow that much.

@Michael Manes

i would not presume to tell you to sell your house, since that is a personal decision and i don't know anything about you.  but, i'll say something on your second question.

a HELOC is not cash - in fact, it's actually very expensive money.  so, if you're trying to finance something 100% - a HELOC for the down payment, and another loan for the rest - you will just lose money servicing the debt, unless it's some kind of unicorn / absolute home run deal.  

so if you don't have any cash... save up some cash.

hope this helps

happy to dialogue further

@Caleb Chow

are you able to come here in person, and scout cities yourself?  the market is really tough right now.  unless you have a ton of capital, and are willing to just buy in a great area without worrying about the short term and wait 15 years, i think what you are proposing is going to be very difficult.

i personally have a couple OOS rentals and also some where i live.  but i bought the OOS rentals when interest rates were much lower.  they wouldn't work now.

@Rachel Seymour-Newton

hello.  my top recommendation here would be to hire a reputable property manager.  

here are some questions for you.

did you screen the tenant, or did the prior owner screen them? have you seen this property in person? did you have it professionally inspected? were you there when the inspection took place? are you accounting for ALL expenses when you calculate cash flow, or just PITI?

@Caitlyn Frizzelle

I'd go to local meetups and get recommendations directly from investors.

Some conventional lenders like regional banks may also offer <25% down.  It's tough to get less than 20% these days.

I would not start with a "private" lender - a true private lender is someone already in your network like your uncle or your dentist, and so no vetting is required.  If a random person reaches out to you on FB and says they're a "private" lender - do not work with that person.

Hope this helps

@Micaila Frazier

instead of trying to find a mentor, i would:

-go to meetups and network in person

-ask questions here in the forums

@Robert Ok

what are your goals, and how much money do you have?  i don't think there's enough information in your post to answer your question.

flipping is exceptionally difficult.  it requires:

-time

-money

-the ability to find a distressed property, and move quickly to purchase it once it comes available

-the ability to either do the work yourself, or have a GC ready to go once purchased

and probably other things too.  but if you don't have those 4 things then... don't start with a flip.