@Radoslaw Wlodarczyk Good morning! One Rental at a Time is one of my favorite books and also YouTube channel. I'm a big fan of Zuber. Anyways, you are correct, nothing will cash flow if you look at interest rates and also buying just single families with 20% down payments with current rates and market rents as an investment property.
It really depends on your goals, are you trying to buy investment properties? A new primary? Are you open to house hacking? Do you want cash flow? Do you want more appreciation? Are you open to creative strategies?
Congrats on taking the first step, usually people get hung up on only one strategy, and the best way to start your real estate investing journey is house hacking with lower down payments and interest rate since it is a new primary residence, especially since you can probably rent out your primary and cash flow when you move out.
I'm a local investor and realtor here in Denver metro, and I've found success with house hacking here in Denver for myself (rent by room, Airbnb, Section 8, LTRs, etc) along with my clients too. It is that powerful of strategy that speeds up your time towards financial independence much faster than any other strategy!
Currently, there are a few ways to house hack in the Denver metro area and still live for free depending on your level of comfort.
1) Rent by Room - personally, my favorite strategy, you buy a large house, live in one room, and rent out the other rooms. This strategy is very effective, especially on houses with lots of parking and houses with lots of bedrooms and bathrooms in areas near the popular locations around town.
Realistically, you can get $750-900 per room that shares a bathroom, and $900-1100 per room that has a private bathroom. If you do the math, when you get to 6+ bedroom houses, the numbers work out better with living for free and also cash flowing while living there. My last two clients closed on houses that became 8 bedrooms rent by room house hacks that cash flow, so it is possible in this market.
2) STR - Short-term rentals or Airbnb. This strategy is great, but it fluctuates depending on the time of year, you probably won't live for free because it is more challenging since you are only Airbnbing a small space or basement unit.
3) MTR - this is a good in between style of creative strategies since you can furnish a place nicely that would rent out on Airbnb but you want a long-term high quality tenant like a travel nurse or corporate rental that stay for 2-3 months vs. under 30 days for most Airbnbs.
Combining strategies is the best way to go, ideally, you would find a house with a separate entrance or walkout basement, live upstairs in the one of the bedrooms, rent out the other upstairs rooms and STR/MTR/LTR the bottom unit. You get the best of both worlds, and would easily live for free and probably cash flow, even with a 7% interest rate.
Personally, I don't recommend starting with properties with HOAs since HOAs can restrict your ability to house hack it with different strategies, and they can even restrict your lease from being under one year.
Hope this helps! I'm very passionate about house hacking, and I think it is the best strategy for any investor just starting out from college since you have the flexibility. Let me know if you would like to connect, it is a great time to buy in Q4 2023/Q1 2024 since your competition isn't nearly as intense, and you can get a better deal now than you will in Q2-Q3 2024.
