All Forum Posts by: Wendell Butler

@Jacob Pereira okay, yeah that’s what I was thinking. Thank you for your input and service as well!

What do you mean by leverage to the hilt?

@Taylor Wrice-Brooks side by side means that the units are next to each other, rather than a 1st floor unit and second floor unit (up/down duplex).

@Ekamjot Singh I can not use a VA loan on commercial property. I am simply looking to get into a duplex/triplex as my first house hack to get started and the ball rolling for my long term rental portfolio.

Hello everyone!

I am currently reading up on my market and I am wondering if anyone has ever had success with direct mail to start your real estate investing career to get into a house hack? 

What is a good site to get addresses, contacts etc. for it and what are the criteria/filters you use for those lists for a house hack? How many letters do you normally send out and how do you phrase them?

A lot of duplex/triplex's in my market are off-market and rarely make it to MLS if it is a good deal, so I am exploring other ways to find a decent deal to start.

@Adam Melon wow did not know about the possible tax exemption, that would be awesome! And yeah it’s seeming I may have to put some money down to get a triplex, which is okay since I’ll have profits from the equity from my condo I fixed up.

So different banks have different criteria regarding the VA loans and potential rental income? I thought VA loans were all the same criteria, but it really depends on the lender you go through correct? I have a year experience as a landlord currently, but not 2 years (which is what VA loans look for I guess). So I'll need to most likely get a triplex with tenants already in place (paperwork and documented) to get the potential rental calculated in.

@Jeff Hornberger good ideas, and yes here in Worcester the properties are pretty expensive and the rent isn’t quite high enough that in a duplex you can cash flow while you are house hacking (for the most part it seems). With a triplex you can cash flow while house hacking easily here though.

@Ian Hogan that's an excellent point. The VA does have different aspects to the inspection/appraisal. This will be my first use of it so I'll definitely need to study up!

@Caleb Johnson by stretch I mean based on my current income currently for what I can qualify for. I wouldn't buy outright cash, I would utilize my VA loan for my first house hack. Worcester triplexes seem to be quite expensive and possibly out of my range to qualify (unless I can utilize future rent income from other units).

@Filipe Pereira that’s exactly what I was feeling too, just a matter if I can initially get qualified enough to get in the range of some triplexes. Appreciate your insight!

@Brian J Allen great input Brian! I will definitely start coming out soon to get a feel for properties and start learning more. I will keep in touch and I appreciate your emails so far!