All Forum Posts by: Sam Ventocilla

Hey Jordan! I just moved to NWA in November. I stayed at an airbnb until I bought my duplex in Dec 2020, and now I'm househacking it. I have long term tenants on the other side & airbnb guests in the spare rooms on my side. I'm a software developer working remotely as well.

I think pretty much every market is crazy right now, so you will face that wherever you go. There is a $10,000 incentive for people to move to NWA, check it out! https://findingnwa.com/incenti...

The COL is very low here, which is awesome, especially if your pay won't change when you move. The Skyline Report will be helpful to check out rental data. If you check out that report you will see that Springdale tends to have lower vacancies and a higher ratio of rent to FMV than the rest of the area.

For the duplex I bought there were four offers in within 48 hours. I offered $1k over asking with FHA financing & wrote the sellers a letter letting them know I appreciated the detailed renovation they did and talking about how I would use it. The appraisal came in $8k under so the seller went $8k down on price. Just a purely anecdotal example for you of the market conditions. Prior to this my offer had been denied a couple times for different duplexes because there was an all cash, close in ten days, full price offer.

I'm a big fan of both. I am currently househacking a duplex I bought in Dec 2020. I have long term tenants on the other side & airbnb guests in the bedrooms I don't use on my side. I have considered doing long term room rentals instead of Airbnb, but my Airbnb guests are impeccably clean because they want a good review. I really appreciate that.

You also get some tax advantages by househacking, especially if you rent out the spare bedrooms on your side. You can go by square footage ratio or room ratio, but essentially you can use that ratio to determine what expenses you can write off for expenses for the common areas (your dining room table, couches, etc). You may have to capitalize some of the expenses, but the de minimis safe harbor will be your friend here. I'm not a CPA, just trying to give you some things to talk about with your CPA!

@Account Closed I used Ray Lusk Plumbing for a sewer scope inspection. They're in Springdale. I haven't done anything else with them, but Donovan, the guy that did the sewer inspection for me, has a brother that flips houses. He showed me the camera feed & explained what he was looking for. It was quite helpful to know what to look for in the future!

Hey @Corbin Jones, I second what Ryan said. I moved here less than a month ago & am under contract on a duplex currently. All of the lenders wanted a letter from my boss stating that I can work remotely from Arkansas.

Hey Matthew! I just moved to NWA recently and submitted an offer on my first duplex last night. If you need any boots on the ground in the future just let me know! 

For agents, I really like @Ryan Blackstone and his team. Ryan's brother, Jarred, is my agent, and he has been extremely helpful. Ryan has been house hacking for 7 seven years and just recently finished up a BRRRR in Fayetteville and Jarred owns multiple buy and hold properties.

This is my first time buying a house so Jarred's experience has been a huge help to me personally. He teaches me a lot at every property we go and see. I'm sure that part of this is because I have a lot to learn, but I really appreciate that he takes the time. For example, at the first house I visited Jarred got on his hands and knees and knocked on the tile to show me what tile that wasn't installed well would sound like. They are focused on the financial projections for the property, and I appreciate that. Every time I'm interested in a property Jarred sends over an Excel file with a detailed property analysis with each property so that I can compare with mine.

I don't have experience closing on a property yet, but I've heard Iberia Bank recommended a fair amount. Specifically Conrad Eberhard and, I believe, Trent Armstrong was the other loan officer recommended at Iberia Bank. I've been working with Conrad, & he has been pretty quick, including on the weekends and evenings.

Also, I see you're a fellow dev. If you're considering moving to NWA there's a possibility you would get $10k. Ryan sent me this link, check it out: $10K Relocation

Lastly, Ryan had recommended looking at the Skyline Report & I've found it helpful to know what numbers to project for vacancy, rent, etc since it includes numbers from the Great Recession.

@Paul K. sounds good! Send me a message once you're in the area!

@Zach Quick @Anthony Van Guyse Thanks for the recommendations! I reached out to both.

Hi all!

I'm going to house hack in the Fayetteville, Bentonville, or Springdale area. I'm mostly trying to decide between Springdale, for the cash flow, or Bentonville by the new Walmart HQ, for the potential appreciation, but I'm open to other areas in Northwest Arkansas. I'm currently living in an AirBnb in Bentonville until I buy a house so I want to get pre-approved soon. Any recommendations for financing & real estate agents are appreciated!

Also, what investor groups are there in the NWA area? I'm going to check out the Real Estate Investors NWA group & would love to meet other real estate investors in the area. Thanks!

Hey Avery! I just graduated from a GVSU in Michigan & am currently a software developer. I'm looking to house hack in the Durham area & am looking mostly for cash flowing properties (less focused on appreciation). I'll send you a message!

@Ben Kirchner I'm looking to invest around the Durham area. I'm definitely going to check out Garner. What properties have you noticed work well there for a long term buy & hold?