All Forum Posts by: Andrew B.

@William Orrock I disagree that Denver is in a bubble. All the leading indicators for an appreciating and growing market are still positive for the foreseeable future. However, if you are looking to not bring a lot of capital to he game, this is not the place unless you are going to occupy the property. Even then, you are looking at condos under $300k and SFH anywhere over $300k for ok condition.

If you want to learn more about the Denver market, @Chris Lopez, his podcast, and website are a wealth of information, among many others in town.

@Keith Walton Congratulations on an awesome chance encounter! Sounds like you have a pretty clear vision of what you want to do and have someone willing to help along the way. Good for you and good luck!

@Account Closed

Agree with a lot of the advice given already. You don't need and LLC. You can't get FHA with an LLC. Staet with house hacking.

As a new grad, don't go expanding your lifestyle. Keep expenses as low as practical, save money, invest (wisely) with money. That should be the goal. Keep living the "college" lifestyle and you'll be glad you did in 10 years. By that I mean house hack however you are comfortable. If that is a 4-plex as suggested above, great! If that is a duplex, also great. If that is a SFH with 5 rooms and you are renting the spares out while living in the smallest one, awesome! Just do something, continue building your cash reserves, have other people pay for your roof, then move on to the next one and do it again. After a few of these you can start using "The Stack". I've included some links below.

House Hacking 101

Intro to House Hacking

"The Stack"

In addition, if I was in your shoes again, I would be devouring books and podcasts on the subject (I am now at 35). Some of the ones I would recommend off the top are:

How to Invest in Real Estate - Josh Dorkin, Brandon Turner

Set for Life - Scott Trench

Richest Man in Babylon - George S. Clason and/or Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki (similar messages)

Your Money or Your Life - Vicki Robin

These will help you with your mindset if you are serious about pursuing this and maximizing your potential by keeping your lifestyle in check. At this time in your life it is easy for it to start growing, and quickly. 

Anyhow, rant over and good luck. I wish I had started as young as you.

@Kevin Ravenscroft

Sounds like you are in a good situation with flexibility. I would suggest attending meetups. There are a lot of them around Denver. Check on BP here: BP Events and you can also check out MeetUp.com. Just start going to seminars on topics you want to learn more about, events that look intriguing, etc. but exercise some discretion especially when they are charging money. I'm not all that far ahead of you in my investment adventure. Just get out there and talk abut what you are trying to accomplish. I just went to an awesome event hosted by Gathering of BadAss Real Estate Investors last night and met some great people.

Also, use this forum. Be active, ask questions, contribute to conversations, reach out for help.

Lastly, I'd suggest not just approaching a potential partner or other investor saying you are willing to help with whatever. Take some time to evaluate and know your skills and offer to bring them true value to their business. That will go a lot farther than just volunteering for "whatever". If you build websites, offer some updating or SEO. If you are good with your hands, offer to take on some simple maintenance for them. If you have a large network of people, leverage their skills and be a "connector". Tons of opportunity in this area. Leverage your strengths.

Good luck.

@Josh Splawn I you could do a HELOC on the clear property to reduce the amount you need to borrow then find HML or private money to complete. Or just go all HML or private. If it is a good deal, find a partner than can secure lending or bring the money otherwise. If it is good, you shouldn't have a problem finding a partner.

Good luck.

@Kevin Ravenscroft lots of good info here but keep saving. You may also be able to consider partnering with someone as well that can bring money to the table and you bring time and effort. Good luck!

@James Carlson Interesting. Do you work with people wanting to change the zoning of their property to allow those uses and help them through the process? I was just discussing this with a friend buying in Lakewood.

@Matt M. @Bill S. Thanks for the info. I'm actually working through reading the zoning regarding dimensions and setbacks, door requirements, etc. I suspect there may be a height restriction in the area as well.  

Unless I can get the price of the property down about $40-50k this may get abandoned. Spread isn't likely wide enough for the holding costs and risk of the price escalation right now. But I'll keep looking! 

Thanks for the responses and if anyone else wants to chime in on buildout costs, I'd love to get some actual $/SF data points for future use.

I'm looking at house hacks or live-in flips (2+ yrs) currently. Can't make the numbers work well enough in the areas or types of homes I'm interested in otherwise, and even these may be tight. Still looking.

Hey Denver BP folks,

My wife and have been considering a live-in flip as an option in Denver and while looking ran into a possibly intriguing property. It is zoned E-TU-C but has only a single structure currently on it. We are considering OO the existing unit and build a second unit and a garage (has alley access).

I'm not sure how we should consider this; as an addition or as new construction? Any thoughts?  Is there a meaningful difference between the two in terms of $/SF?

This is in a B neighborhood and wouldn't be going overboard on the build but would build with a potential sale to an investor in the future using mid-grade finishes. Thinking something along the lines of 2-story 3/2, 1200 SF, 2-car divided garage.

Any guidance on $/SF or other thoughts would be great. My background is construction management so I may be able to help myself cut down some costs but would like to get an idea of a fully GC'd rate.

Also, if anyone is going to be at the DTC BadAss meeting, I'd love to discuss there also.

Thanks for the help!

Awesome! Coming up from Denver with my wife!