All Forum Posts by: Scott Hibbert

@Marc Cunningham Thanks for the response and rules about renting in the city of Boulder.

Chris Lopez thanks for the tips and insight!

@Dan Mackin Thanks for the invite.  I'll see you there.

@Whitney Hutten Thanks for the info. Unfortunately due to my divorce and buying my ex out of my house, I consider myself cash poor. I am a few weeks away from closing on a HELOC for $60K to free up some of my equity in my house.

Hi @Dan Mackin Thanks for your advice and yes I am planning on staying in my neighborhood occupancy laws of 3 unrelated, even though it would be ideal to fill the 4th bedroom.  I do feel safer holding in Boulder because the last market dip was minimal compared to other areas and I believe Boulder is only going to become more expensive due to the limited space to build new houses (one of the reasons I enjoy living here).  

I am constantly battling my personal checklist vs a purely investment driven checklist for my next property since I plan to live in it before making it a rental.  Personally I want to be within biking distance (5-8 road/bike path miles) to the Golden/Morrison trailheads because I love mountain biking.  Financially I want something that would cashflow positive with a traditional mortgage and 5% down but I haven't started shopping with a realtor yet to see if that is possible in my desired area.

@Matt M. Thanks for the advice.  Some more details on my house: Single family house on 9600SQF lot, 1200sq ft main floor with 3 bed/1.75bath, 1200sq ft basement with 2 egress windows, 1 bed/1bath.  The basement is now the biggest and best bedroom with private bath in the house.  Full 2 car garage.

I'm also considering the idea of Airbnb the basement room because I think it could be an ideal semi private rental for vacationers.  I know I am creating an analysis paralysis problem for myself.  I like your idea of a 6 month rental to see how I like it and I'm sure learn some good lessons.

Katie Bond does Longmont require you to pull a permit if you don't need to replace the window? A couple years ago I upgraded my small basement windows to egress code compliant windows here in Boulder. I did the paperwork for the permit and dug the holes myself to save a good amount of money and hired egress Inc to install the windows and wells. It's surprisingly simple and those companies charge a lot for a day's worth of work. Next time I would do it all myself. Best of luck in your search and let me know if you have any specific questions about the process.

@Whitney Hutten Thanks for the recommendation!  I'll take a look at EzLandlords.com to start.

I also want to clarify that $650k is the value of my current home in Boulder based on the November 2016 appraisal.  My budget for my next house is $250k - $300k.  Preferably a single family but those seem to be hard to come by in my price range even in Lakewood and Arvada.  My plan is to hopefully buy a 3 bed/2+bath house or townhouse that would cash flow positive with a basic mortgage and 5% down payment if I turned it into a rental immediately.  But I plan to live in it and renovate until I can afford a 3rd property.  I am also interested in the idea of duplex or mother in law suite that I could rent out in my next property to reduce my monthly living expenses.

What kind of rent ratio are you seeing in Boulder and surrounding areas?  I feel like house prices are making it tough to cash flow positive.

@Jared Bouzek Thanks for the reply.   My mortgage included taxes and insurance is $2250/month.  Estimated rent will be $3000/month +utilities.

While I agree $650k is a lot for a rental value, part of me wants to continue to own in the city of Boulder because I don't expect to be able to afford to buy back in down the road if I sell today.  I am also thinking if I ever wanted to move back to Boulder from the Golden/Lakewood area, I could move back into my Boulder property and turn whatever I buy in the Golden/Lakewood area in the next couple months into my rental property down the road.

Thoughts or recommendations?

@Whitney Hutten Thanks!  While I feel fairly confident in my renovations skills, the landlord side is completely new to me since I have never owned a rental property, screened tenants, conducted background checks, etc so any lessons I can learn from your experience would be amazing!  I would prefer to start my real estate investment plan the right way.

Do you have any recommendations on a thorough lease agreement for my soon to be tenants?  

When I looked through some of the lease agreements on BP they were for other states.

Are there any unique rules or guidelines I should follow for my rental in the city of Boulder?