All Forum Posts by: Andy Jenkins

East side duplex inventory is low and unlikely to cash flow at the beginning. Set yourself up with Hotsheets/ Listing alerts and be ready to pounce when something comes up that works. That's what I did and ended up in The Avenues. It took a while to find but worked out in the end.

Do you plan to live in the duplex?

@Ofir Weintraub

Can you rent out your existing condo and buy another place to live in?

Hi Jessica, welcome to the forums. House hacking is a great way to get going. Flips and BRRRR are harder to get right straight away as you need a low buy in to make them work, and if you're playing with hard money you could get badly burned.

Right now SLC Multi family in SLC is minimum $250k for Magna, $280k for West Valley, $330k for Poplar Grove/Glendale/Rose Park, and at least $360k for SLC proper. It sounds like you have a decent amount of cash saved up, and buying a duplex to live in one side, or purchasing a home with a mother in law (or potential to put one in) would be your best bet. 

If you're handy or willing to learn to do some renovation work, a SFH live in flip is another great way to get started. The SLC market still has ridiculous inventory issues. If you take an ugly house and make it nice, folks that want a nice house will bite your hand off for it when you sell or rent it in the future.

What part of the valley do you want to live in? Where are your family/ friends? Where do you work? Have you spoken to a lender? What payment can you afford if the rental unit is empty? These sorts of things will dictate when you can buy, where you want to be, and what type of property you want to buy. The time to buy is now and the next few months. Rates are still crazy low. Come February you'll be fighting off scores of other buyers, and that just gets worse and worse through spring and summer.

@Lindsay Wolfgramm

Whether you want to be in a C or D neighborhood is really a matter of personal choice. You'll be living there if you're house hacking, so do you want to be there? Tenant screening can largely be done with tight requirements on credit, employment history, income etc. The Utah Apartment Association has lots of resources to help with that.

Part of your Due Diligence will be finding out about the tenant leases that are in effect. They'll be sent to you as part of the Seller Disclosures. You have to honor them as per Section 6.1a or the REPC, "Buyer agrees to accept title to the Property subject to any long-term tenant lease or rental agreements (meaning for periods of thirty (30) or more consecutive days) affecting the Property not expiring prior to Closing." Once the leases are up you can ask them to move out (with proper warning, of course). It's not eviction if the lease is up.

If you're already working with a professional loan officer, they should be able to give you a plan to move forward with your finances/ build credit etc. Conventional mortgages have really low down payments too, and if you're several months away from buying, you may be able to work some magic with your credit. I see it time and time again where people think FHA is the only option (and it might be), but conventional gives you way more freedom.

If the out of pocket expenses are too high to convert the basement to a MIL, you can always rent out the basement room(s) and share a kitchen. I have clients that did that for two years to and used the rental income to pay down their mortgage insurance.

I agree with Alex. Either find a home with a Mother in Law, or that has the potential for a MIL. It's a great way to house hack. Duplexes work too (I live in one), but typically have a premium on the price.

Because you want to live there too, think about the areas of the city you need to be in: Liberty Wells or Herriman? South Salt Lake or Sandy? There are a lot of MILs in west West Jordan, but if you work at the U of U, that's a long daily commute. Where do you both work? What do you like to do for recreation? Where are your family and friends? Are you house hacking to kick start your rental portfolio, or to get a cheaper mortgage payment, or both?

Garth Haslem did a great job with my clients when we had a splitting/ warping beam. I'll PM you his details.

Hi Jorge,

I'd love to meet up when you come to Salt Lake City. Have you been here before? I see SLC as being an appreciation gain market. It's getting pricier and pricier each year. Cash flow returns aren't always there once you hold money back for repairs, capX etc. It's crazy competitive with multiple offer situations all over the valley... BUT there are deals to be had.

https://www.utahreia.org/

https://www.slreia.com/

The websites are a good start.

You'll get a lower buy in, and better cash flow up in Ogden, though probably less appreciation.