All Forum Posts by: Phillip Wolff

I've put together a slide deck and have managed to put a deal under contract, but since my network is on the smaller side (just starting out), it's tough to find investors. People always suggest that I "network on BiggerPockets," so here I am. What advice would you have for someone like me? 

Hi everyone! Now that Spring has sprung, let's get some events on the calendar! I'm more than happy to help facilitate, but I wanted to gauge interest amongst the community and create a more monthly cadence.

I’m able to host at spaces around the Plaza or downtown. Please comment below if you’re interested.

Here are the 5 things I look for when looking for a house hack property on the cheap. Since I live with my wife and she doesn’t like sharing spaces, we have to find houses where we can convert units or close off spaces.

I look for C houses in B/A areas near large institutions (universities, hospitals, etc). These areas are prime for students, travel nurses, and airbnbs, which all mean more cash in my pocket. I’ve found repeated success finding on-market deals using these five techniques:

1. Searching for houses which have been on the market more than 6 months on Zillow. Oftentimes there’s much more wiggle room on price, people have written off this house as a rotten egg, and if you’re lucky, the owner has made updates in the meantime but not updated the photos.

2. Terrible photos (think: flip phone) likely taken by the owner. The house still looks clean though. (No hint of hoarderism)

3. Large square footage (oftentimes a historic home). This is an obvious one. More space to rent out=More money.

4. Large (and wide) front porches. I’ve found some gems with two doors on the front porch. Take a close look at separate sunroom entrances which can act as a second front door for your tenants. Oftentimes the doors will lead to a bedroom with en-suite baths. These are goldmines and easy to convert into small Airbnbs to cover your mortgage.

5. Huge bonus points for houses on corners. There are often side entrances which provide separate access to a basement unit conversion, or side bedroom/mother-in-law suite which can be closed off to the main house, giving you privacy. 

Follow these steps, and you might stumble into a non-traditional duplex or triplex to pay for your mortgage. Happy hunting! 

Has anybody found any good tools I can use to filter search results to opt for houses with mother-in-law suites and additional unconventional rentable areas? I have found that older neighborhoods and larger houses on corner lots usually have hidden extra units in them, but these don’t show up in search results and finding them is time consuming. Any help is much appreciated!

I’m Phillip from kcmo. I house hack and do STRs and small multi families. 

Not testing the noise in a house was a huge mistake we made haha. 

Hey Austin! Happy to connect. We’ve got an Airbnb that’s doing quite well and we’re looking to meet other folks in the area. 

Hi Wei! Let’s connect! We’ve got STRs in Kansas City as well. 

Great list, Sofia! Thrilled to connect with another local KCMO STR investor.