New to House Hacking — Where Do I Actually Start?

Question

Hi Everyone,

As everyone seen my last post, I'm new to real estate, but I’ve been doing a lot of reading, listening to podcasts, and trying to learn as much as I can. House hacking is one strategy that really interests me, but I’m honestly a little lost on where I should actually begin.

Other than working, saving money, and getting my finances in better shape, what should I be doing right now to prepare?

A few of the things I’m trying to figure out are:

Where do you actually look for good house-hacking properties?

What should I be looking for in a property to know if it could be a good deal?

How do I figure out what would be a good property in my specific area?

Who should I start trying to connect with — investors, real estate agents, lenders, property managers, contractors, etc.?

Are there websites or tools that investors use to find and analyze properties?

How do you determine what the rent could realistically be for the other unit, room, or portion of the property?

What should I have in place financially before I start seriously looking?

I’m also strongly considering getting my real estate license because I want to learn more about the industry. However, I’m not sure if that’s actually necessary for someone who wants to become an investor. I’ve heard about the MLS that real estate agents use, but I’m not sure if that is something only licensed agents have access to or if regular investors can access the same information somewhere else.

I’m not expecting someone to hand me a deal or tell me exactly what to buy. I’m really just trying to understand the process and figure out what my next steps should be so I can start moving in the right direction.

Eventually, I’d love to connect with someone experienced in house hacking or real estate investing who wouldn’t mind pointing a beginner in the right direction. I’m willing to learn, do the research, and put in the work. I just need a better idea of where to start.

I appreciate any advice or resources you all can recommend.

Adam Tafel · Answer

1. Try out some other meetups. Ours is called Twin Cities Real Estate Investing, we have a podcast of the same name.

2. CD/lease option deals are out there in the Twin Cities, you need to be able to deal with rejection and ask a lot of sellers. For context, we might sell 50 deals to investors yearly, and this year we have done 2 CD deals. Both at pretty great terms which ultimately made the deal. Both buyers had cash (20% and 7% down), I’ve only found one seller in my career willing to sell at a fair market price for 0% down at a low rate, but I also don’t spend all my time searching for these deals. When you reach out to the seller, remember that they get calls like this from jokers all over the country who spent 1500 on a course, so you need to find a way to stand out. Make sure they understand you are a local and you understand the neighborhood and appreciate cool things about the deal, make sure they understand you have rentals, a family, and a stable six figure job.

3. Any method works if you do it consistently. I’ve found SO many deals for clients on craigslist over the years. Find something you can get a bit of traction (positive responses) on and do it 5 days a week no matter what, never miss a day, get a simple CRM or spreadsheet and FOLLOW UP.

4. You probably need a way to make/save more cash. I don’t know anything about your skills, but side gig is probably your best bet. This is the little annoying secret about building a portfolio not often talked about - most successful investors either a. Had amazing market timing and took on lots of debt at the right time b. Had the DIY skills and bootstrapped renovations or c. (most likely) had a very high paying job/income source for regular down payments.

Drew Sygit · Answer

Too many questions to try to answer for you:(

Here's some copy & paste info to point you in the right direction. DM me if you'd like to chat and deep dive.

If I was starting out again with what I know now, I'd look to acquire a 2-4 unit property with an FHA 3.5% low-down payment mortgage.

I’d also look into using an FHA 203k renovation loan, allowing me to buy something ugly, thus unqualified for a standard mortgage, which would weed out a lot of competition and push the price lower.

To maximize my cashflow and gain landlording experience, I’d do STR and MTR in the other units, as well as the other bedrooms in my unit.

Since most cities won’t allow basement rental units, I’d consider finishing the basement, just well enough for me to live down there (cities don’t care if owner chooses to live in basement), so I could rent out ALL the units/rooms.

﻿I’d save all my cash and look to refi the property in 1-2 years out of the FHA mortgage, so I could use it again if necessary. Depending on how close I was to having 20% equity in the property and being able to avoid PMI, I’d consider using some of my cash to pay down the mortgage when I refinanced. Otherwise, I’d save my cash for the next acquisition.

I’d also be posting on every social media platform and telling everyone I knew that I was looking for more real estate deals. I’d aim for low downpayment land contracts and lease options.

﻿After refinancing out of the FHA mortgage, I’d evaluate if I wanted to repeat the 2-4 unit FHA 203(k) process again or if I had the 20% down to target 5+ units.

﻿While still living in the property, AFTER the refi out of the FHA mortgage, I'd also explore securing a HELOC to tap my equity for emergencies.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

Michael K Gallagher · Answer

Generally speaking there is no right and wrong on the first one, as long as you find a property you would like to live in, generally seems in good condition or fixbale to your level or fixable, and improves your current financial situation, you've got a solid house hack option.

More strategically, go for a nicer ready to rent property, and make sure it has amenities that you know you'll need to get a solid tenant in there.  If parking is a must in your market don't get something with street parking only.  If in unit laundry is a must don't get something that you need to walk to the laundry matt two blocks away - you get the picture.

Generally its all gonna be scary, people will tell you your crazy there will also be lots of noise, try to ignore it and understand that you are making moves others don't have the stones to.

Diana Khan · Answer

@Christopher Call, one thing I’ve learned from working with buyers and investors is that a house hack can look great on paper and still have problems if the property is not set up for the way you want to use it.

Before I got too excited about a property, I would check a few things early:

- Can you legally rent the second unit or rooms the way you plan to?

- Are there HOA or condo rules that limit rentals?

- Does your loan require you to live there for a certain amount of time?

- Will your insurance still work with the rental setup?

- If you are renting rooms, do you have a clear lease or roommate agreement?

I’ve seen deals get more complicated because people looked at the rent first and the rules later.

You do not need to know everything right now. But I would start learning how to check these things before you make an offer. It can save you a lot of trouble later.

Since you are in West Virginia, I would also make sure you have a local agent, lender, and attorney who know the rules in your area.

Nicholas Floyd · Answer

I’d keep it simple and start with the financing and numbers before worrying about finding the “perfect” property.

First, talk with an investor-friendly mortgage lender and find out exactly what you qualify for, what your estimated cash to close would be, and what your monthly payment looks like. Then start studying rents in your area and look for properties where the income from the other unit or rooms would cover a meaningful portion of your housing payment.

You don’t need a real estate license to become an investor. I’d focus more on building relationships with an investor-friendly agent, lender, property manager, contractor, and a few experienced investors who can help you understand your local market.

Also, think about reserves. A lot of new investors focus only on having enough money to buy the property and forget about repairs, vacancies, and unexpected expenses afterward. If you have a properly structured LLC, business funding can sometimes be another resource for appropriate business expenses or additional liquidity, depending on your personal credit profile or business revenue. I just wouldn’t open new credit or take on additional debt while trying to qualify for the mortgage without discussing it with your lender first.

Learn how to analyze the numbers first, get your financing lined up, then start looking at properties. That will save you a lot of time.

Ken M. · Answer

You cam look on Redfin.com and Zillow.com for instance, to see most of what real estate agents see. But to get the real deals you learn how to buy "off market".

It's your choice how you want to do things.

A $400,000 dollar purchase on the MLS includes the 6% realtors fee of $24,000 while you can buy the same type of house for $350,00 when buying off market, no realtor fees, once you learn the process.

Christopher Call · Answer

Hi Drew,

I appreciate your reply and advice. I'd love to connect if you would like. I am always looking to learn from the vets in this industry and can't explain how much knowledge I've learned just from people being nice enough to share. I'm currently focusing on how to find buyers and learn what they are looking for when they buy. Then I'll have my guideline so I'm not just randomly looking for places. It's a stepping stone for me, but I love the hard work and I see what it can do for those that don't give up. So, I'm motivated, hungry, and willing to continue to learn.

Thank you!

Michael Eskenasy · Answer

Christopher, Abel gave you a pretty complete roadmap here. The one thing I’d add specifically for house hacking is to build your buy box around your own monthly housing economics before you start chasing “good investment properties.”

For every property, I’d want to know:

What is my actual all-in monthly cost?

What portion can realistically be covered by the other unit/rooms?

What happens if I’m vacant for a month, a repair hits, or the achievable rent is 10% lower than I expected?

And most importantly: after all of that, am I materially improving my housing cost while buying an asset I’d still be comfortable owning if the perfect scenario doesn’t happen?

That’s a slightly different question than “Is this property a good rental?”

A duplex that wouldn’t excite a pure investor might be an excellent first house hack if it cuts your personal housing expense dramatically, gives you manageable downside, and lets you learn landlording with one property.

I’d talk to the lender early, get the exact financing box, then analyze properties from that starting point.

The goal on the first one doesn’t have to be finding the cleverest deal in Huntington.

It can simply be buying yourself a much cheaper place to live while acquiring your first operating experience.

Abel Curiel · Answer

Hello Christopher,

Other than working, saving money, and getting my finances in better shape, what should I be doing right now to prepare?I saw you wrote about potentially getting licensed, don't. Unless you are planning on building a long-term Real Estate sales business, I do not believe you need to get a license for industry knowledge or help with investing.

A few of the things I’m trying to figure out are:

Where do you actually look for good house-hacking properties?

You can find deals yourself by contacting FSBO, distressed owners, and other homeowners within your buy box. You can also hire an investor-friendly realtor to help with all of those things while/after you get your finances in order.

What should I be looking for in a property to know if it could be a good deal?Look at the comparable sales to determine the fair market value of the subject property. You should also review the subject property's current expenses and rent roll, and project the rent roll for the next couple of years based on rental comparables. From a macro-perspective, I would look at the area's recent trends in housing inventory, median sale prices, population growth, school district ratings, and other relevant data.

How do I figure out what would be a good property in my specific area?Same as the previous question.

Who should I start trying to connect with — investors, real estate agents, lenders, property managers, contractors, etc.?All of the above but you can start with lenders and agents. Lenders will give you an idea of what you need to do to qualify for financing. Agents can tell you what options you have in today's market given your price point/ qualification amount.

Are there websites or tools that investors use to find and analyze properties?

BIGGERPOCKETS.COM!! Check out the BP calculators and analyze deals. To find the actual properties you can use 3rd party sites like Zillow, Redfin, etc. or work with an agent who can share MLS properties.If you want to go straight to the source aka find sellers directly, consider , prop stream, attom data, property shark, batch leads and batch dialer.

How do you determine what the rent could realistically be for the other unit, room, or portion of the property?

Look at rental comparables - recently rented/leased apartments in your target area. You can also look at active rental listings but you should take those with a grain of salt. Lastly, BP has a rent estimator tool here which is pretty good.

What should I have in place financially before I start seriously looking?

If you're going with conventional financing, you'll need a minimum credit score in the low-mid 600's depending on the loan product and subject property. You'll also need about 2 years of strong and steady income, 3.5% - 20%  of the property value saved up for down payment and closing costs.

If you aren't going conventional, speak with a lender who can fund the deal based on the property's financials or other financing option.

Lastly, you can go the seller-finance route if sellers in your market are open to it. In my market, you still need 10-20% skin in the game for seller financing.

All the best!

Abel

New to House Hacking — Where Do I Actually Start?

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