House Hacking Success Story | Denver Cap Hill House Hack

House Hacking Success Story | Denver Cap Hill House Hack

House Hacking Specialist · Denver, CO · Member since 2016 · 411 posts · 396 votes

I love sharing success stories of Denver House Hacker’s crushing it! This post is to highlight Vasily Rossokhin first house hack purchased in September of 2020.

Investment Goals: Vasily had his mind set on building long term wealth. He was looking for a house hack with great long-term appreciation and cash flow. Less concerned about high cash flow while house hacking.

Investment Details: Capitol Hill attached Duplex.

Purchase Price: $740,000

Cash Invested: $177,000. (20% down to eliminate PMI and $20,000 in renovation cost)

Being a risk-averse investor, chose 20% down to eliminate PMI and increase long term cash flow. The $20,000 in upfront renovation costs consisted of new windows, kitchen refinishing, password-protected front gate for tenant security, and back entrance facelift.

What interested him in the property?

3 bed/ 1 bath on top + 3 bed/ 1 bath on bottom with shared front entrance. Plenty of space and easily “house hackable”. Great condition for the age of the property and excellent location.

How did you find the deal?

Like most of our house hacking clients, the property was found directly off the MLS. Our investor friendly agent was able to negotiate $10,000 off the asking price in a very hot market.

What was the outcome?

Vasily is currently living in the top unit and renting out the bottom unit as a long term rental for $2100/month. Average monthly expenses after the first year, $1000/month!

The top unit is estimated to rent for $2500/month after he moves into house hack #2 this summer.

Lessons Learned?

Schedule any rehab as soon as possible because many contractors are booked months in advance. When it comes to receiving quotes, everything is negotiable.

Challenges?

First floor tenants' ceilings leaked from the old plumbing. $1800 in unexpected repairs + $100 in DIY drywall repair.

Second floor furnace died a few months after closing. $2000 repair/ replacement costs.

Some issues with loitering+drugs in the front/back: password-protected front gate+installing Ring cameras with lights/sirens+more secure new back entrance mentioned above all helped a lot.

Keep on crushing it Vasily Rossokhin

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Chris LopezPro Member
Real Estate Agent · Denver, CO · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 858 votes
4y

@Ben Einspahr Great write-up! Vasily's duplex is a solid house hack.

I can't believe it's already been one year. He's seen some appreciation!

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  • Joshua JanusBusiness Member
    Realtor · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2021 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    @Ben Einspahr

    Congratulations! Seems like you went into this deal for the numbers and executed properly. So much to learn from this post if someone is looking to house hack. 

  • Chris LopezPro Member
    Real Estate Agent · Denver, CO · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 858 votes
    4y

    @Ben Einspahr Great write-up! Vasily's duplex is a solid house hack.

    I can't believe it's already been one year. He's seen some appreciation!

  • Member since 2021 · 2 posts · 2 votes
    4y

    Great post with some great info in it.  I especially love that the Challenges were provided as it provides a very realistic view.  It looks like Vasily not only got a great house hack but he also owns a great Denver architectural treasure.

  • Real Estate Broker · Denver, CO · Member since 2019 · 11 posts · 1 vote
    4y

    Great post Ben. Numbers look great!

  • Member since 2020 · 1 post · 0 votes
    4y

    This is a great HH example! Six-bedrooms, great cash flow and NOI after move out. This really illuminates why house hacking is a great way to get started in real estate investing.

  • New to Real Estate · Denver, CO · Member since 2019 · 19 posts · 9 votes
    4y

    Thanks for summarizing so well, Ben! It was such a great experience working with Ben's team. As per Chris' comment, the property also appreciated at least 15% since my purchase a year ago, which has been a more-than-pleasant surprise.


    Keep doing great work guys!

  • Real Estate Broker · Denver · Member since 2020 · 18 posts · 14 votes
    4y

    @Vasily R. I'm curious, did you have money put aside for the Challenges listed above BEFORE you got into the property? I see you keep 6% reserve, but depending on when those incidences occurred, how did you cover if that reserve wasn't built up enough yet? What would you recommend for future HHer's in regard to this?

  • New to Real Estate · Denver, CO · Member since 2019 · 19 posts · 9 votes
    4y

    Hey Bekah. I'm going to be honest in that I had maybe half of the needed 6% in yearly reserves and the $20k for renovations in cash specifically for that purpose when I bought the property. I certainly had my 6mo of living expenses rainy day fund that I took from, a little bit, and other semi-liquid sources I could use in the worst case, but I played it by ear and was able to take my time with many of the non-time-sensitive renovations.

    Because you're owner-occupying the property for at least one year, you can spread out many renovations such that it's a more constant trickle of cash required every few months or so. That worked for me as I have a stable W-2 that pays me the same every month so I can plan around that. Luckily, I also didn't have any very expensive sudden things needing repair, and am also able to DIY a lot of the minor maintenance work. As your portfolio grows, and as you are able to expedite your HH timelines, I think having that cash on hand with a clear plan for it will be much more important. I've been living in this HH for 2 years and only now wrapping up many of these final renovations. For my next HH I plan to do it all in 1.5 years, etc.

    More generally, if you consider how financial safety is a pyramid, I'd say your lower floors of the pyramid should already be very solid going into the HH. For example, not having any student or credit card debt gave me some much needed flexibility and peace of mind despite not having 100% of the required cash right away.

    Hope that helps!

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