All Forum Posts by: Bradley Dosch

Hey Romario, there's no need to get creative in this case. You have a good W2 job and could probably save up a 3-5% down payment rather quickly. Use your job and income to buy a house hack with a conventional or FHA loan. Keep it simple!

Hey Justin, great attitude about wanting to get started and learning by doing. I don't know much about your personal situation but the best way to start for most people is almost always house hacking. Save up a 3-5% down payment and get started that way. Keep it simple!

Hey Darius, this is an awesome position that you are in and your question is common among new house hackers. Long story short it's almost never worth paying off your loan more than needed, especially when you're just starting out. There are many explanations as to why but, to me, the most powerful is this: look at how much you'll save monthly by dropping off PMI vs how much that will cost you. An example would be for a $500,000 house, let's say the PMI is $120/month. The additional cost of dropping of the PMI is 20% - 5% = 15% = $75,000. So the question becomes: do you want to pay $75,000 to save $120/month? The answer for me is pretty easily no

Paying $350/month out of pocket while living there is an excellent house hack. Focus on the numbers for when you move out. Use your capital to continue acquiring properties, doing renovations if necessary, and building adequate reserves.

Great question and good luck in your endeavors!

Hey Max, not cash flowing while living in the house hack is fine. You are building equity, gaining experience, and tax benefits. Ideally, you could at least break even when you move out of this place. Depends what your goals are and how long you plan on living there. Just make sure to focus on the rest of the awesome benefits of house hacking besides cash flow!

Hey Ben, sounds like you've been doing great preparation for a house hack! What issues are you having with financing? What is "not ideal" about it?

Hey Isaac, definitely house hack! Everyone should house hack and it's the best place to start. I could go on but that's my short answer :)

Hey Dumisani, what an awesome, scalable, powerful and accessible strategy you've used! Love seeing that progress. Keep us posted please!

Hey Ryan, great question. Here are some things I look for. 

Good location - might as well use the high leverage to be in a good location

SFHs with 5+ bedrooms with good separation is my go to. Ie second kitchens, laundry, entrances, etc. A "duplexified" SFH if you will

Price to # of bedroom ratio

I agree with @Conner Olsen about the NWROI calculation. Many important factors are forgotten when analyzing a house hack. Make sure to keep in mind your rent savings and loan pay down. The $1300 rent could very well be low - look into different rental strategies (medium or short term rental for example) to increase cash flow. Remember the goal of house hacking is to reduce your living expenses, build equity in a good location, and gain experience in REI. Living for free is usually what's focused on and there are so many other factors that are huge and become forgotten.

Hey Elijah, thanks for posting this as it's definitely a common question. Assuming you would use a 3-5% down payment, I would save the following:

The down payment

$~12k for closing costs - note that it's much more doable to have the seller pay these in this current market!

At least $5k in reserves depending on the condition of the house

Of course there are plenty of ways to get around this. Seller paid closing costs, down payment assistance, help from friends and family. Hope this helps, good luck Elijah!