All Forum Posts by: Ben Einspahr

 @Jennifer Dargento. Yes ADU. But that does not mean detached. sometimes they can be basement suite with separate entrance, garden level suite, mother-in-law above attached garage. Financing is not any different that traditional primary residence financing. I would reach out to your Vegas community for investor friendly lender.
Check out this BP house hack walkthrough.

@Jesse Englund-Rohlf, I am sure there are many others out there that would disagree, but I personally do not think the juice is worth the squeeze. When it is all said and done you could be $200k+ out of pocket and looking at a 12-24 month process. But this all depends on city you choose and the lot zoning. 

What I would consider is buying a home where someone already did all of the work for you. May not be a detached ADU but you can find properties with unit above attached garage or separate entrance to basement MIL guest suite.

We recently put together an ADU case study covering zoning, financing, and deal analysis. I'll DM you the details.

@Jacob Munson love the planning ahead! To answer your questions:

- Majority of our clients do not purchase in Denver County. Regulations are PIA and prices are much higher. 90% of our clients purchase in Lakewood, Wheat Ridge, Arvada, Westminster, and Aurora. Excellent price to rent ratio.

-Yes there are duplex's out there but can take a good chunk of money to get rent ready. Plus you have to battle with all the other investors targeting duplex's. 2 popular strategies here are buying 4+ bedroom and renting out the room. Assuming you will have a wife by then, she will not be down for that:) Your other option is buying single family home with some form of separate income suite to rent out. Works excellent.

- Regarding loans. Keep it simple. 90% do 30 year fix conventional or FHA. The other 10% do a popular grant program that offers downpayment assistance. When it comes to lending, keep it simple. No need to get creative.

- In the Denver Metro Market you can find anything between 500k - 600k after you get above that, it can get difficult to cashflow after moving out. Moving out #'s are much more important than while living there.

We just wrapped up a 6 part series analyzing house hacks in Denver. Ill DM you the details

Best of luck!

@Jennifer Dargento, Love the planning ahead. Really home this is not taken the wrong way but at the same time do not want to beat around the bush. I do not think that strategy is realistic.

-203k loans are a PIA. Need preferred contractors and requires a lot of government paperwork. Contractors hate paperwork.

-You can not get hard or private money loan for a primary residence

- Why BRRRR and HH? You are already getting an amazing deal by purchasing an investment property with 5% down

There are a lot of nuances when it comes to financing for a multifamily if it is your primary residence that I wont get into. 

What a lot of our investors here in Denver do is buy single family home with some form of separate income suite to rent out. Works excellent and can typically get in for less than 25K. Hope this helps :)

@Patty Nisbet Congrats on the new HH! Very unlikely to get direct bookings being a new listing. I would focus on Airbnb and furnished finder. If your city requires licensing (both landlord + STR), I would start that ASAP.

@Matthew Van Koevering. Great question. So, if you do happen to purchase a duplex in certain cities with in the Denver Metro area (ie Centennial, Wheat Ridge, Arvada, Northglenn, Unincorporated Adams County) you can still operate the other end of that duplex as a STR. But.....the down side to that is 95% of the duplex's on the market would require a heavy amount of renovations to be a successful STR. Your best bet would still be the SFH with a separate income suite. They are out there.
Regarding your zoning question, I wont give you a hard no but I would assume there are a lot of hoops (plus costs) you have to jump through in order to execute. Props for thinking outside the box but I do not think the juice is worth the squeeze. 
Plus..  the STR loop hole is only effective for non-owner occupied STRs. You would only be able to depreciate based on sqft that you are renting. However, I would still 100% house hack with a STR!

Agreed. 1099 to keep simple. 

@James Cabral Love the vision and always planning one step ahead. As others have mentioned, getting that second home in Houston may be challenging from a lending prospective.
First step would be connect with a lender and lay out your business plan. Who knows, you might be able to use the rental income from your HH (if you have signed leases) to offset your DTI and qualify for that next investment property.

But keep it simple. Focus on this first house hack acquisition. Get it under contract and stabilized then plan next steps. Why I say that is to not get stuck on step 3 and 4 if you still need to complete step 1. 

For me personally, my investing goals/ strategy changed 6 months after my first house hack. Long term vision still stayed the same. 

@Charles Frazier adding another investor into the mix can muddy the waters + change your lending terms. My advise is keep investment with in driving distance especially if this is your first. Focus on that 2nd home loan. Best way to narrow down markets is to start running the numbers. I'll DM you some lenders and other resources. 

Bought a 4 plus bedroom home after graduating college (parents co-signing and helping with downpayment if needed) and rent by the room house hack every 12-24 months. These young professions starting out at 24 will be set up very well by the time they are 30. Hats off to them!

Keep it simple.