House hacking success stories in Denver \ Boulder

Starting Out
7yFollow

House hacking success stories in Denver \ Boulder

Mathew Fuller
Rental Property Investor · Fort Collins, CO · Member since 2016 · 59 posts · 20 votes

It would be interesting to hear some stories from people who have house hacked in Denver area \ Boulder. Numbers, unique situations, Airbnb, renting rooms, lessons learned, property type, areas, analysis, etc. Anything you feel like sharing.

0Reply
43 views

Most Popular Reply

Steve K.
Realtor · Boulder, CO · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 5k+ votes
7y

I got my start house hacking in Gunbarrel in 2003. In retrospect that was like striking gold, but at the time REI veterans we're telling me the time had already passed to invest, (much like today). Any time is a good time to get in to front strange real estate, and house hacking is a great way to slide that foot in the door.

1Reply
See this reply in the discussion

8 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Steve K.
    Realtor · Boulder, CO · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    7y

    I got my start house hacking in Gunbarrel in 2003. In retrospect that was like striking gold, but at the time REI veterans we're telling me the time had already passed to invest, (much like today). Any time is a good time to get in to front strange real estate, and house hacking is a great way to slide that foot in the door.

    1Reply
  • Austin Allan
    Denver, CO · Member since 2017 · 13 posts · 7 votes
    7y

    Talk to @ craig curelop or @ chris lopez. Denverinvestmentrealestate.com has a bunch of case studies on the subject as well. 

    1Reply
  • Mathew Fuller
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Fort Collins, CO · Member since 2016 · 59 posts · 20 votes
    7y

    @Steve K. That is pretty interesting, I’m glad it ya worked out for you.

    I'm a software engineer down in Boulder, currently living in Greeley saving money. I'm torn between buying a SFH further east in Westminster or Arvada, or maybe looking into a condo \ townhome in Boulder \ Louisville \ superior \ broomfield since I can't afford single family properties in those areas. My main worry is putting 3-400 into a condo \ townhome and still being able to hack it. Do you have any insight being from the Boulder area?

    Thanks Steve

    0Reply
  • Steve K.
    Realtor · Boulder, CO · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    7y
    Originally posted by @Mathew Fuller:

    @Steve K. That is pretty interesting, I’m glad it ya worked out for you.

    I'm a software engineer down in Boulder, currently living in Greeley saving money. I'm torn between buying a SFH further east in Westminster or Arvada, or maybe looking into a condo \ townhome in Boulder \ Louisville \ superior \ broomfield since I can't afford single family properties in those areas. My main worry is putting 3-400 into a condo \ townhome and still being able to hack it. Do you have any insight being from the Boulder area?

    Thanks Steve

    In that price range you should be able to find a great place to house hack, a duplex even if you look hard enough and don’t mind taking on a fixer-upper. Gunbarrel might not have too much in that price range anymore but there are properties available for 3-400k in any of these areas: Longmont, Lafayette, old town Arvada, Westminster, etc. tons of additional neighborhoods around greater Denver metro but above would be my preference if I was working in Boulder and looking to start out. Buy the worst house in the best neighborhood you can afford, fix it up, find some roommates to pay the mortgage and let appreciation do the rest. 

    1Reply
  • Mindy JensenPro Member
    BiggerPockets Money Podcast Host · Longmont, CO · Member since 2014 · 7k+ posts · 10k+ votes
    7y
    Originally posted by @Mathew Fuller:

    @Steve K. That is pretty interesting, I’m glad it ya worked out for you.

    I'm a software engineer down in Boulder, currently living in Greeley saving money. I'm torn between buying a SFH further east in Westminster or Arvada, or maybe looking into a condo \ townhome in Boulder \ Louisville \ superior \ broomfield since I can't afford single family properties in those areas. My main worry is putting 3-400 into a condo \ townhome and still being able to hack it. Do you have any insight being from the Boulder area?

    Thanks Steve

    I'd look in Longmont or even Loveland. You'll be able to find something in Longmont easily, and the commute from Greeley has to be killing you. Longmont is bikable to Boulder, and even Loveland is closer than Greeley - but still a haul. 

    A very quick search of the MLS in Longmont, under $400k shows 44 properties.

    [email protected]Podcast Guest on Show #261
    BiggerPockets
    1Reply
  • Chris LopezPro Member
    Real Estate Agent · Denver, CO · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 858 votes
    7y

    @Austin Allan thanks for the mention!

    @Mathew Fuller - I sent you a BP private message with 6 podcast links. Two are interviews with my house hack clients who hacking around Denver. The other are our monthly roundups where we give a market recap. It includes a market update and two case studies, but each one has at least one HH example. It goes over the numbers (while living there and when the hacker moves out) plus all the pros/cons of the property. Should be great info.

    If you need more help or want to learn how we analyze house hack opportunities, let me know. That's what we specialize in.

    Podcast Guest on Show How to Use Equity in Your Home to Reach Financial Freedom Faster
    1Reply
  • Zach BagbyPro Member
    Littleton, CO · Member since 2016 · 30 posts · 11 votes
    7y

    Hey Mathew,

    I'm also a software engineer, but I work in south Denver. Here's a link to my house hack: https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

    Hope this gives you a better idea of what's out there. I've seen some decent small multifamily deals in the corridor between Denver and Boulder. It's still pretty competitive, but you gotta throw your name in the hat with the numbers that work for you. The bigger pockets calculator helps me alot, I try to be conservative with my numbers. 

    0Reply
  • Zeona McIntyrePro Member
    Real Estate Agent · Boulder, CO · Member since 2015 · 285 posts · 226 votes
    5y

    I'll share a fun win! My partner and I purchased a 3 bdrm townhome in Boulder Jan 2020 for 429K (yes it was the cheapest 3bdrm - aside from a mobile home - in Boulder at the time), we petsit through a killer app, staying in gorgeous homes for free and rent out our home on Airbnb. 

    Our mortgage + HOA is 2K (we put 20% down, because we had it) and we can rent it for $1300-1500/wk. We have been living for free ever since we moved in.

    Yeah moving around can be a little bit of a hassle, but we only do it as much as we want, stay in luxury homes, and go to places we want to explore: ski towns, hiking destinations, hawaii!, etc. 

    Happy to share more if you have questions! Yay. 

    Podcast Guest on Show Seeing Greene: Why Are My Rental Property Returns Looking So Bleak?
    0Reply
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.
Log InJoin for Free