House Hacking a Condo

[Elie Merisier]

Hi, I hope you’re well.

I am looking to house hack a condo.

Does anyone have any tips for

Exit strategies, for example: How to sell the property later on for a price higher than I bought it for?

[Kyle Spearin]

@Elie Merisier I'd love to learn more details about this: 
What's your target market?
How much does rent go for?
Do you have a timeline for selling after you buy?

Happy to give some more input and chat. Good luck!

[Ash Hegde]

Hi Elie, by house hack a condo, do you mean renting out a room while living there? If so, check the HOA rules and make sure it's ok (I mention this because my HOA does not allow room rentals). The best way to ensure appreciation is to force it yourself by buying something distressed and rehabbing it. You could also look for a growing area, though future results are never guaranteed. Best of luck!

[Ryan Thomson]

@Elie Merisier are you only looking for a condo bc you need a cheaper property? Why a condo?

If you do house hack a condo you are probably looking for as many bedrooms as possible so that you can rent by the bedroom. 

For exit plan: I would consider buying one that allows short term rentals or bedroom rentals so you could do that when you leave. 

[Jake Browning]

It is fairly common for Condo regulations to limit the number of renters, or ban them altogether. I would also be aware of if you start renting under the current bylaws, the association can change the bylaws at any time and you could lose your right to that rental. There are a lot of limiting factors at play within an HOA. Just beware of that going in. Also, The more bedrooms you have the more renters.

[Matthew Kwan]

HI Elie, it really depends on what your long term goal on investing real estate. You want to invest just to have a place to live and potentially offsetting your mortgage payment by renting out the vacated rooms or having x amount of cashflow in the future? In this case, I would recommend staying away from condo as they have high HOA fees and tends to increases every year. Also for condos, you only own the unit but no the actual land itself. You should always looking into single family houses or multifamily, as there is an actual land that you own and potentially build ADU/DADU in the foreseeable future.

Also, the beauty of FHA is that it allows you to put 3.5% down payment to invest in 1-4 units. However if you plan on buying 3-4units, there is a trigger rule for FHA, it is called the self sufficiency test. In order to past this SS test, your market gross rental income at 75% has to be more/equal to your monthly mortgage payment (PITIA). These are something to be considered. Feel free to DM and we can talk more about it @Carlos Valencia @Albert Bui