Live in my rental?

Question

I don't know if I'm really looking for an answer, advice, or just getting something off my chest.

To make this quick, I will be complete with my very first property this weekend. Its actually done now, just needs to be cleaned. Its a duplex but I only had the funds to finish the lower not the upper.

The property is in the hood, not too be bad of an area (I've lived in worse) but nonetheless still the hood. I currently rent a apartment in the suburbs. I have seriously been considering moving into it temporarily and using the money I've been paying for rent to just rehab the upper.

Financially I know its smart but I spent the last few years of my life trying to get out the hood and now that I'm out I really do not want to go back.

Has anyone here ever decided to move in one of their investments in order to save money or to complete a job easier? Would you do it? Why or why not?

Elizabeth Colegrove · Answer

Alan B.

Oh yes we have done exactly what you are describing numerous times. It's how we have 5 properties at 26 and 28 respectively.

My husband went to a military school and swore he would never share a house/room again. A little over a year later we shared a place as a newly married couple with another military member (and his often over gf) because it let us put 18k in the bank and assist in me graduating from graduate school debt free.

We than used a VA loan to buy a truly cosmetic fixer upper (no light fixtures, doors, 2 bathrooms need to be gutted, kitchen cabinets repainted, carpet replaced and entire house painted, lawn landscaped, etc) and spent a better part of a year fixing up. I worked two jobs the first tax season for us to have the extra 10k to redo the house (and our labor).

Since we worked our but off by me working a second job and doing the work ourselves and a bit of family help we were able to save that 18k. That 18k bought our first rental in Charleston, SC. With a lot of saving we were able to than buy a 3rd house 2nd investment. We were than tapped out debt wise. My husband was deploying so we moved in an inlaw suite in someones else house and rented out our awesome house that we JUST fixed up!

I could go on and on!! Everyone on bigger pockets has their own story. We have gotten to wear we are through treating every house like an investment. When we retire we will have a dream house. Till than we are about building our investments.

I am a big believer in using the exact situation you described to start building your investments. In fact that's what my website is about.

Curt Davis · Answer

Nope, would not do that. If you have got yourself out of the hood, why would you go back? You would know first hand that investments in those neighborhoods typically turn out to be losers all the way around. Just my opinion.

Flip this deal fast, get out, make a few bucks and move on!!

Good luck

Flip this deal fast, get out, make a few bucks and move on!!

Good luck

Sharad M. · Answer

Alan B.

Can you rent the unit and use the income to fix the 2nd floor if you really don't want to move to that area?

Whether you move in the area or not will also depend if you have family that will be moving with you? If it's just you, the decision is a lot easier than if you have wife and kids.

How long will it take you to rehab the other unit if you moved in the finished one vs if you rented the finished one and used all the income to fix the 2nd unit?

I have never moved into any of my investment properties, but I have lived in some lower neighborhoods, because my top priority was saving money and nothing else and I was perfectly fine making that short-term sacrifice for long term gain.

Live in my rental?

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