All Forum Posts by: Brian Bohrer

Hey @Taylor Wong,

This is a great plan! I have personally assumed a VA loan as a civilian without entitlement. There are so many VA sellers in this area who need help to move on from the purchase they made in 2020-2022 who now have a home that is either underwater (owe more on their mortgage than the house is worth) or cannot afford to pay the closing fees associated with selling their home! I created a list of all assumable properties in the Pikes Peak MLS that I update weekly and would be more than happy to share with you. Also, I would love to share the process with you of the loan that I assumed back in November of 2023. I personally did not use an assumption company to assist with the transaction, but that is an option if you encounter a lender who is not too thrilled about helping you through the process.

I was able to assume a loan with a 3% rate during a time when rates where in the high 7's!  When compared to taking out a new loan, this move saved me about $1,200 per month in my monthly mortgage payment in addition to increasing my principal paydown each month from around $300 on a new loan to over $750 per month on the loan I assumed!  This adds up to a total savings/increase in debt paydown of over $18,000 per year!

It does take about 60 - 90 days on average to close an assumable loan deal, but it is WELL worth the time if you are not in a hurry. You will encounter some resistance from VA sellers who want to keep their entitlement, but there are many out there who just need help and will be willing to listen if you can educate their agent about the intricacies of VA and FHA assumable loans.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or want to chat about the process.  I wish you the best on your RE journey!  Take Care,

I recently attended a meeting with the Council or Elite Property Managers at the Pikes Peak Association of Realtors in Colorado Springs and was shocked at how many property managers were stating vacancies of over 5% - 7%! These are the best of the best in the Springs for property managers of all sizes and the general consensus was that you need to beat the market down to market rent and not chase it. That means effectively pricing your rental to others in your area and even looking at apartment rent rates to compare with your SFH. One manager of a large portfolio stated that he has seen some housing types and markets hit near their 2019 pricing levels...

Money is getting tight and tenants are looking for what fits their budget, not the amenities they can afford.  A man much smarter than I once said, "You will never make up for one month's lost rent, if it's not renting at your current price, drop the price a $100 per week until you find someone".  I wish you the best of luck!  Please don't hesitate to reach out if there is anything I can do to help.  Take care :)

Hey @Kylie Gerstein,

What a great property!  My input would be to look into a sober living operator.  They can usually get 2 bed in each room and can also convert shared living spaces into "rooms" as well.  I would imagine that a sober living operator would love to check out the property and see if it is a good fit!  I wish you the best in your real estate adventure!

Take Care,

Hey Sam,

If you decide you want to break into the Denver/Colorado Springs market, I would love to assist you!  I have been buying properties in Colorado Springs over the last 2 years and expect this market to continue its steady growth for decades to come!  Temperate weather, beautiful views and plenty of attractions; what else could you ask for!?  

Feel free to reach out if you want to explore the opportunities across the front range in Colorado!  Good luck on your journey, I wish you the best!

In the words of more experienced property managers than I, "If it isn't renting at the current rate, then lower the price!".  I have no idea if you are overpriced or not, but I would say that if you are seeing very limited interest at your current rent then lowering it should increase your potential tenant pool.  Lowering your price will allow you to be more selective as well.  In my experience, tenants who are willing to overpay tend to have other underlying issues that will show up down the road.  I wish you the best of luck!

@Kenneth Vargas @Justin Griffin

The best way to learn is from those who have done it before, right?  Check out Facebook and Meetup.com and search for real estate groups there.  There are tons of them out there so dive and find your niche!

If you are solely interested in wholesaling and other creative real estate tactics, I invite you to join the Colorado Springs Real Estate Investing Club on Meetup.com! The host, Mike Jake, owned up to 150 SFH's in Colorado Springs at one point and grew his business from scratch by finding off-market opportunities and implementing several creative financing strategies. He loves sharing his knowledge and helping new investors find their way in the market!

We have a weekly zoom meeting every Tuesday at 8:30am and an in-person meeting every Thursday at Building Three Coffee from 8:30 to 10am.  

I hope to see you at one of our meetups soon!  I wish you the best in your RE journey and would love to share my knowledge if you ever want to meet one-on-one.

Take Care! :)

Another way to supercharge this strategy is to mix in the power of assumable loans!  My wife and are implementing this "Nomad Strategy" and are about to start looking for our 3rd property here in Colorado Springs.

The major issue right now is interest rates, and the fact that if you only put down a 5% DP and borrow the other 95% at a 6.5% - 7% rate you will not even come close to covering your mortgage with the rent when you move out next year.

So, we found a VA assumable loan (FHA loans are also assumable) with a 3% rate and a seller who had an overpriced listing because he was pricing to break-even after paying off his debt and closing costs for selling the home. Because he was overpriced and I was the only one willing to pay the amount he wanted, he ultimately signed over his VA entitlement and allowed my (a non-veteran) to take over his loan! This allowed me to save over $1,200 per month on my payment and also increased my principal paydown by over $400 per payment compared to financing a new "high interest" loan! But, the best thing of all is that I will be able to rent this SFH for more than the debt payment when we move out!

If you are interested in learning more about this strategy, check out my forum post here :)

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/922/topics/1175338-maxi...

I wish you the best in your RE Adventure!

Take Care,

Hey @Jonathan Tello,

Welcome to your new addiction! haha  There is so much to learn about Real Estate with soooo many different strategies.  Follow the advice above and get out there and attend every real estate meetup you can to build your network and learn what is working for other investors in the market.  

I host a Real Estate and Coffee meetup every Thursday morning at Building Three Coffee from 8:30 to 10am.  If you are looking for a more personable setting with no agenda besides helping each other find success and sharing creative Real Estate Investment strategies, we would love to have you!  No pressure, feel free to stop by if you are ever in the area :)

I wish you the best in your journey!

Talk soon,

The absolute best thing you could do is attend as many Real Estate Meetups as possible and grow your network.  You will meet people making their way in Real Estate in many different exciting and interesting ways.  Over time you will find the niche in RE that calls to you and the group of investors that you want to emulate.  Just get out there and learn as much as you can!

If you are looking for a group of RE junkies of all backgrounds that meet weekly, you are welcome to join us from 8:30 to 10 every Thursday morning at Building Three Coffee!  Hope to see you soon :)

I wish you the best on your Real Estate adventure!

Hey @Wyatt Nauman,

I think you have the right idea and investing in real estate anywhere is a great plan!  I don't know if you mentioned anything about your current career or if you would have a job lined up upon moving out to Colorado to pursue your house hacking dream.  I would caution and encourage you to look into the general cost of living difference from where you currently live and where you are looking to move.  

When we arrived from Nebraska, we were quite shocked in the difference in costs relating to fuel, groceries, services and night life. I understand that you are attracted to the Denver and Boulder area and I would be curious to know if you have planned for the additional costs of living in these areas including the large(r) mortgage payment you may be taking on when financing 95% of the purchase price?

My wife and I have the same strategy of buying a primary residence every year and then renting it out when we move to the next home. We moved to Colorado Springs from central Nebraska in May of 2022 and bought a home to house hack by renting out the basement as a STR. The issues I ran into was the local market was already flooded with STR's and in order to be profitable you had to stand out with a home that was either near an attraction (ie great view, Garden of the Gods, Downtown, or a College) or the unit had to have amenities (Hot tub, Instagram Wall, Pickle Ball Court) that would place your listing far and above other similar listings.

I think you should strongly consider if you more interested in moving away and starting a life somewhere else, or in creating a cash flowing investment to supplement your income?  We kept our house in Nebraska when we moved and were cash flowing over $600 per month.  In comparison, we moved out of our first Colorado Springs home in November 23' and we are just barely breaking even as a LTR.  Yes, there is potential for more equity growth here in the Springs compared to the Midwest.  But, the fact is that our home has been declining in value since we purchased in May of 2022 because we bought during the "Covid Bump", and the market has been depressed for the past 2 years.  The market very well could continue on this path until we see substantial changes in local wage growth or a decline in interest rates.  So do not expect appreciation to be your savior, the facts remain that this market will bounce back and will appreciate more than the Midwest, but can you carry the debt for that long until it does?

So in conclusion, I would heavily weigh your desire to move from the area and your desire to turn a profit in an area that you already have some market knowledge of.  Also, who is to say you can't find a steadily appreciating multifamily in your area to buy and then use that income to help you move out to the front range and begin your real estate education out here?   Or maybe you can use some money to buy real estate locally and use the rest to buy your house hack in Colorado.

Lastly, if you do have your heart set on moving out to the area, the absolute best way to by ANY primary residence in ANY local market is to look for homes with an assumable FHA or VA loan! My wife and I bought our most recent primary residence in this manner and locked in a 3% rate on our loan in an (at that time) 8% interest rate market! I feel this is the ONLY way you can buy real estate that will rent for more than the mortgage payment once you move out in a year. I have a blog post you can read here (www.biggerpockets.com/forums/922/topics/1175338-maximizing-w...) that dives into the advantages of combining house hacking and assumable mortgages.

I wish you the best on your journey and would be happy to answer any questions you may have!  Good luck Wyatt and take care :)

Brian Bohrer