All Forum Posts by: Preston Brown

Again, thanks for everyone's response.  Sorry I haven't been active for a few days.  We have inspections coming up at work and we have been working hard.

@Kevin Grinstead Thanks for your insight.  We are looking into the resources you mentioned to find out what the realtors experiences are.  I would like to see that list of questions you mentioned.

@Jean Bolger We looked at Mission Viejo and saw that the majority of crime that has been recently reported there is multiple back to back DUIs, car thefts, and drug violations.  This is one of the reasons we are looking at Centennial, the crime rates drop down to almost nothing, reported.  For us as investors, when we try to think like a tenant we would want to live in a much safer neighborhood. 

@Tyler Howell We are planning to calculate the price of a property manger in from the beginning so we are prepared to hire a PM when the time comes.  As a first time investor, I would like to manage the property myself and learn the ropes before hiring a PM though.  Thanks for your experience with the vacancy rate.  We will use it when running our numbers.

@Matt M. Is Anschutz the area directly S/SW of Sand Creek Park? We are actually using recolorado.com.  It is not as fancy as zillow but works well and offers good information.

@Kevin Grinstead thanks, we are trying to find a realtor now to get on an MLS listing.

Are there any tips in knowing if a realtor is experienced?  How would we know if they are "green"?

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for everyone's experiences and knowledge.  I am grateful how active this thread has been.

We have decided to stick with SFH. With using a VA loan, we will need to stay in the property for 12 months before we would consider moving out potentially using the BRRRR strategy. During that time we are also considering saving up a down payment to buy a second long-term rental property in Denver or in the new develops popping up around Aurora. I love the idea of duplexes and multi-families, but want to start with this initial investment to fully understand and get a grasp on real-estate investing.

I would like to stay away from HOA fees, but can see the benefit to them as @Eric Young mentioned. The numbers just need to work because it does lower your ROI.

As far as the area, we have narrowed our neighborhoods down to the Cherry Creek School District.  While living here ourselves, we want our children to have good schools to attend as well as future tenants.

Is there anything that we should be looking for as far as running the numbers when considering to purchase a property we plan on living in for an extended period of time before purchasing the next one?

@Bill S. We will be mainly house hacking for a year because of using a VA loan. There are unknowns to our plans for a few reasons. First, we are first time homebuyers and our experience is limited to books and what BP has to offer (which is a lot). Second, we have lived overseas for roughly a decade and have not pursued RE investing in practice until now. We have a lot to learn but are getting past the state of analysis paralysis in our studies and are finally going for it! RE investing is intimidating but we see huge value in it and appreciate your insight so far. We are shooting for families as tenants with children in school.

@Kevin Grinstead We have not looked at the MLS yet, but have been scouring Zillow. I think we are a bit far out to be looking at homes that we could actually purchase as we won't be in the area for another 4 months. We are looking at properties now to get familiar with the area and the market.

@Jean Bolger The NE section mainly looks like undeveloped land.  I have heard of expansions coming in the future both in Aurora and a bit SE of the area.

@Account Closed Thanks for letting us know about the areas you mentioned.  We will take a look at the Meadowood Mission Viejo and Pheasant Run subdivisions and see what they have to offer.

Thanks again for everyone's replies so far!  

Thanks Kyle.  I appreciate your insight into the market and growth in the area.  Are you referring to the Medical Center of Aurora hospital?  There are a few in the area.  The Cherry Creek area really interests us.

Thanks Todd for your response.  What has been your average vacancy rate?  Would you happen to know which school district is best between 80013, 80015, and 80016?  We would like to purchase in an area that has great school to help the properties attractiveness.  Do you have any recommendations on what places to avoid?

Greetings all, 

I just got notification that my family will be moving to Denver for work and had a questions about the market.  We would like to invest in a home that we could house hack and live in for about a year before potentially purchasing a second home and renting out the first.  We will be relocating to the Aurora area and are most interested in the 80013, 80015, and 80016 zip codes and our budget maxes out at $350,000.

My question is, how desirable are 2 bedroom condo/townhouses in Denver?  My concern is that would be difficult to get tenants in and or resell years down the road.  I am just not sure how rent-able they would be.

This would be our first purchase and we haven't lived in the States for about a decade, so we appreciate any insight anyone has on the market there.

Thanks!

Fantastic job on your first flip! Your post had a lot of great tips. Thanks for sharing everything with us. All the work you put into the renovation really looks beautiful!

Hey Ben, I am new to the forums but I keep hearing it is good to reach out.  Your post interested me because I am interested in purchasing multi-family homes just as you are and do not know the process for a first time buyer yet either.  I think it is great that you have reached out to lenders like you did.  I have reached out to lenders and haven't heard back from anyone yet.

Creative financing can be great if you can find it.  From all of the research I have done, it takes some work to find alternative ways to purchase properties but it can be done.  For instance, search for properties that are 'For Sale By Owner' and you might be able to work with the owner to secure private lending from them.  This could also allow you to purchase with no money down.

@Roy N.

Right, it can be more expensive to live there but if it has been on the market for 2 years I am sure there is room to come down on the price. Properties in Guam are more expensive. We could pay the same price for a SFH, so we were thinking about potentially house hacking with a VA loan. I am trying to get a good grasp on the numbers of the deal so we can make better educated investments.

So, I just pulled up the property and my memory was off a bit.  It is actually listed for $629k, 11bed and 6 bath.

http://www.guamhome.com/MultiFamily/15-1517/NDP/341-Teodoro-Dungca-Street-Tamuning-GU-96913/