Quote from @Devin James: In one of our development projects, the City staff asked us to remove 40 units from our concept plan.This wasn’t requested by the City Commission at a formal hearing, it was the opinion of the staff.Our original concept already proposed fewer units than the current zoning would have allowed.Here’s what erasing 40 units means:- 40 fewer homes for buyers- Over $1M in lost profit for our team- Fewer tax dollars and impact fees that could’ve benefited the City’s infrastructure & servicesWe gotta get betterEveryone wants more affordable housing, but not everyone wants to do what it takes to achieve it we never listen to the recommending bodies. we move for city approvals and work closely. the other thing we do is keep going back to the same groups over and over and over and over every month on the same agenda and make very small reductions like 2% or 4% and that reduces and beats them down eventually they accept what you want. it's just before beating a dead horse. we keep tabling until they give us something we all agree on then we go to vote. in our city in columbus we have to get recommendations but that's our strategy. we used to come out as aggressive as possible. we typically study developments in the area and keep it very similar in terms of density. we have a track record of very controversial projects and litigation and not taking no as an answer. after a year of that haha I can tell you it's not worth it. now we are more relationship based and buying the right kinds of plots of land. if the numbers don't work on the front end don't do the development. 

I didn't have much imagination for it. 5 years ago I started looking at buying a larger home I could house hack because it allowed me to get a larger property than I could afford.

In Houston, you can either invest locally or explore strong Texas markets like San Antonio (affordable duplexes, strong job market), DFW suburbs (duplex-friendly zoning, growing economy), or Houston suburbs (Spring, Cypress, The Woodlands for good schools and tenant demand).

Price to rent ratios have skyrocketed everywhere and it's pretty unlikely rent will ever get to a point where it evens back out because at those levels it's just as cheap/cheaper to buy (not to mention most renters can't afford anything like that). 

Mortgage rates tend to fall as the supply of funds in the mortgage market increases, making homeownership more affordable.

I'm guessing an investor who could afford an $800K house wouldn't have trouble getting a loan, but maybe they would like being able to make a small or 0 downpayment. 

I started out with a house hack, and I would say that that was definitely safe for me when I was in college as I could afford the Mortgage even if my renter didn't pay.

As a result, we have significant water damage to the floor and rugs in that 2nd floor bathroom and a bedroom, plus there is even more significant damage to ceilings, walls, furniture, and rugs to 2 bedrooms on the first floor.Our initial goal is to dry as much water as possible with wet-vacs and dehumidifiers.

It’s affordable and easy to set up, but not essential.

I’d recommend looking for a market that’s affordable and has good rental demand—local job growth or proximity to schools can be a sign of a solid investment.