All Forum Posts by: Alyssa Strom

@Richard Douglass Welcome! Everyone around here loves house hacking and it really does make sense with the Minneapolis-Saint Paul rent prices these days. @Tim Swierczek is your guy for a local investor-friendly lender! 

@Stephen Brown Great plan and I second what @Amber Gonion said. House hacking can be a far easier way to get into investing than purchasing your first property at an auction. You'll need somewhere to live so you might as well purchase a 2-4 unit property and live in one of the units. You'll have low down payment options as an owner-occupant, get hands-on experience managing rental property and maybe even a little cash flow depending on the purchase price. It sounds like you are well-prepared to succeed. Best of luck to you! 

@Kevin Frias I'll PM you a few recommendations.

Welcome @Lee Syndergaard! In my experience, the local Minneapolis/Saint Paul investor community has been so generous with their knowledge and time. Whether it's here on BP or at one of the many meetups around town there are so many ways to connect which is pretty cool. Look forward to seeing you around! 

@Adrienne Harrison If you are looking outside of the metro within an hour or so of St. Louis Park you could check out St. Cloud or Mankato. Otherwise, I think there are some great opportunities in cities right outside of Minneapolis (Fridley, Columbia Heights, Robbinsdale) that are close to home but not as restrictive. Given the competitive market, it definitely doesn't hurt to keep your location preference open to that 30-60 minute range though.

Jim specializes in empowering communities to humanize real estate through his work at the Incremental Development Alliance. IncDev focuses on property development to address the "missing middle" of housing through the utilization of data and education. Jim will be discussing the current ADU landscape and exploring future opportunities related to zoning.

@Obinna Ikechukwu Iwuji There's a meetup that doesn't get advertised on here but can be found on Meetup. Organized by @Bruce Runn and two other local investors. One of my favorites! 

@Anthony Vargas I suppose we all are born with a little of that! My husband doesn't love real estate but he's grown to love the opportunities it can provide. For us, no mortgage has equaled more travel which has been a great trade-off. Although I'm pretty sure the words, property management, gives him nightmares. 

Welcome @Anthony Vargas! BP and Meetup are the best ways to start networking with other investors. Would your fiancée ever consider house hacking a duplex? There are some really nice ones out there plus you can use owner-occupied financing to jumpstart your portfolio.

@Brenda Guzman House hacking is such a great way to get started! Like @Tim Swierczek mentioned, check with your local city regulations in regards to rentals. The city website will likely have all the info you need but you can also call them directly and ask. Cozy.Co or local company ZenLord Pro are free, easy to use services that help you screen tenants, collect rent and report extra income at the end of the year. Best of luck!