All Forum Posts by: Ryan Williams

Welcome @Andrew Shrigley! BP is a great community and provides so many great resources, the majority of the real estate knowledge I’ve acquired over the past few years has come from the podcasts and blogs provided by them! I’m in Denver as well and originally from Arkansas too! Hope to see you around!

Hi @Alyssa Patterson, BRRRR is a great strategy, but as Randall mentioned, hard money would probably be the only option, it is tough in todays market, and can be even tougher in Denver, and having only 20K would make your margins extremely thin, and would create a lot of risk if something went wrong (rehab costing more, appraisal not coming in at ARV you were hoping for etc). What are your goals for doing a BRRRR? IF you are simply trying to add properties to your portfolio, I would recommend that you buy a home that would be a great rental or short term rental, living in it for a year and do repairs you can while living there, and then move out and rent it as soon as you have the funds for the next down payment, but that totally depends on what your goals are, I hope that is helpful!

@Tyler J. It is possible to buy your next home and keep your current mortgage, you do have to be a little creative though! If you are wanting to move into the the multifamily and then keep your current property as a rental, some lenders will pre-approve you based on what your current property would lease for, and once you get under contract, they just need a signed lease for that amount before your funding deadline and you are set! 

That being said, there are some risks with that strategy and you have to be prepared to list your home as soon as you get under contract, but we were able to do this and get a lease signed in a week to move into our 2nd property. You can read more in my blog post about it! 

Buying an investment property with a DSCR loan or forming a partnership would be some other creative options that could open up a purchase for you! I hope this is helpful!

Hi Everyone, so I may just be overthinking this, but this will be the first holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas) I have gone through as a host.  I generally have my calendar open 6 months out, and when I saw that Thanksgiving and Christmas were almost available I reduced my availability window to 3 months out, fearful I wouldn't be able to get a cleaner if someone books through those holidays. We plan on traveling and won't be around as a back up or I wouldn't be worried about it. 

Is that a realistic fear?  Am I just overthinking it? Or have any of you ran into problems with this and had to find some creative solutions? Thanks for any suggestions or input!

Hi @Paul Wakefield. The folks above have already given some great info.  

If you are up for it, moving out of your home and house hacking into a property would be probably your route to put the least money down to get into your next property whether that is a single family or multifamily.  

We were in a very similar situation as you this time last year and we decide to rent our place and move into an airbnb house hack. You can check out the details in this blog post!

Like the others said, you would need to look if you property would cashflow well, which, knowing Denver and seeing your loan balance, I would guess that it would!

It's definitely worth looking at the numbers on a HELOC or a cash out refinance and seeing what you could get to open yourself up to staying in your current property (if that is your goal) and buying a pure investment property. Looking into a HELOC now while it is your primary would be key because you could get up to 90% loan to value with most lenders/banks, it's less for investment properties. And for cash out refi, being satisfied with your new mortgage payment with how much cash you can pull out is what you need to find out, which rates have gone up and it can make those new payments hurt a little if you are already locked in at 3%!

I hope this is helpful. You have options and you are thinking about your future which is a great place to be!

Hi @Ali Mirabzadeh, you are looking at two great markets and all the reasons you mentioned above is why you have seen so much capital flow into these areas over the past 5-10 years. 

I'm based in Denver and don't know AZ as well (side note*** I know a lot of people have moved to Phoenix/Scottsdale, but I don't get the appeal! It's a desert and cars/bicycles literally melt on the streets lol)

I think you are thinking about it well, especially looking at a long term approach, in a city like Denver that has good population growth, rent growth, average income, and vacancy rate like you mentioned is a still a great play if you are satisfied with just breaking even for a while, and seeing future profits/appreciation. 

What you also said is true, in Denver, it's hard to find cash flowing properties right now. The only other factor you many consider is incorporating a short term rental strategy combined with multifamily to see some healthy cash flow. There is for sure more work involved with that, but that is where people are seeing some good returns in our current market. 

Hey @Luke Stewart, I think this is a really cool situation to be in! Either way you look at it, I think it is a win-win scenario.  You either keep a great property that cashflows and has a ton of equity, or your upgrade it to a better property that continues to cashflow.  

I think your best choice is totally based on your goals.  If it is simply to maximize profits, holding your property and pulling cash out doing or doing a heloc and buying other properties may your best route. If you just like the idea of a better spot that will appreciate in the long run, and you get to enjoy living there, there's nothing wrong with that either!

As far as waiting for the market to move - I'm not sure exactly what you mean, but I wouldn't bank on prices going down. We have seen the market cool here in Denver over the past 2 months, but I and a lot of people smarter than me, think home prices in Denver will, at worst, go to a nationwide 30 year appreciation rate of 3-4%. 

Regardless it sounds like you are in a great spot and have options which is always a privilege! I hope it goes well for you!

Hi @Frank Calderaro! Hate that you went through this situation, but I guess that is the risk we take at times! I asked around to cleaners in my contacts if they would be willing to do what you're asking and all of them said they wouldn't haul away stuff.  Unless you find the one in a million person who would be willing to do that, it does sound like you would have to hire a junk removal service and then bring in a cleaner after as @Dan Travieso mentioned above. 

Hi @John Elerick! Love what you and your wife are doing! My wife and I are doing the same thing in Denver and it's going really well so far.  

1. I had a very similar start with our airbnb by cleaning it myself, and wanting to find a cleaner quickly after a few weeks of doing that! lol.  Initial quotes were higher than cleaning fees in my area just like you mentioned, but I networked with other airbnb hosts in my area and found a cleaner they were already using and she had a better rate than commercial cleaners and others on site like turnoverbnb. Good rates and good cleaners are out there, you just have to look hard! 

2. Like the others have mentioned, automating and having a good cleaner, can solve a lot of the issues and allow you to be essentially hands off barring an emergency. You can have a friend act as a cohost when you're gone and hopefully they would only have to do something in an emergency, or you could hire a manger to look over things and handle communications on your behalf while you are gone. 

3. Definitely talk with a CPA, they will help you out a ton, and there is a lot you can write off with STR's

4. Having a good handyman on call that can do most things is a big advantage.  I know my handyman pretty well, he can do almost anything, and I trust him.  When issues come up I just coordinate with the guest in necessary, make a code for him from my phone, and he goes in and fixes the issue. 

I hope this is helpful!

@Jared Vaughn Hey Jared, the city itself doesn't have any short term rental regulations to my knowledge (at least that is what the city planner told me on the phone), it's just totally dependent on the HOA regulations. Many homes in Highlands Ranch have 2 HOA's, the general one that covers the entire city and then many have an additional one for their specific neighborhood. It has to be allowed under both HOA's. Sometimes it will have language that any lease on the property has to be at least "x" amount of time. If you can't find language in the HOA's that don't allow it, bake your neighbors some cookies, and go for it!