All Forum Posts by: Brittany Guimond

Hi Paul — Welcome to Denver! I'm a fellow investor and agent here in Denver. I have 3 doors and currently house hack. Always happy to welcome new folks into my network! I'll send you a DM. 

Congrats on closing! When we bought our Colorado flip, we knew the tenants lease ended 10 days after we took possession, but we communicated to them prior to closing that they would need to be out when they’re lease ended (there was no renewing option). They lingered past the end date, so we tried to stay friendly but firm to get them out. We would have offered cash for keys if it went any longer than the extra 5 days they stayed. I recommend reaching out to a real estate lawyer before you talk to them, you want to make sure you’re within your rights (even though the lease appears as though you are). In my case, the lease transferred with Title, so I’d imagine yours did the same, but always good to confirm. Good luck!

Love that you're shining a spotlight on green building! Can't wait to listen.

A bill is being considered in the Colorado State Legislature that would raise property taxes on certain short-term rental hosts by as much as 400%, by classifying their homes as commercial instead of residential. These increases would, in many cases, be as much if not more than the total annual earnings of a typical host. It is crucial that lawmakers hear from you now, so that they can understand how economically harmful this would be to residents and communities across the state that rely on tourism.

If you can testify IN PERSON, that is most impactful. The legislature needs to hear from Colorado hosts and how opening up your homes has made a positive impact on your lives and the greater local economy. 

More information on how to testify here: https://www2.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2023A/commsumm.nsf/signIn.xsp?fbclid=IwAR3svFpBf9cRH8hvnNh3lsvur-yPqSlvZp0AoxNowvywaOIk9O5HgwGXIVc

You can read the proposed bill here:

https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/committe...

And here's the meeting agenda: 

https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/committe...

@Lauren Sherer What did you find out?

Hi @Lauren Sherer! What a great idea. I also own a property in Arvada that I LTR, and once considered converting a shed on the property into an ADU. I just peeked at the municode for ADUs and found the attached rules, see #2. I'm interpreting this as you have to be there for 2 years before you can move on, but not certain. These rules/regs are always changing, and I've always had luck speaking with a human at the planning dept. Here's their number, I recommend giving them a call to chat through this rule to understand what it means — 720-898-7435. 

My guy is great! He owns rental properties too: Troy Vigil https://etacpa.com/about/

Hey Jacob, glad to hear you’ve already put your boots on the ground to scope out the area! Great first step. Ben pretty much covered, here are few other things to think about:

1. The most common properties investors find are up/down duplexes (single family homes with lock-off basements) and rent-by-the-room single family homes. Like Ben said, ADUs/separate buildings are the most desired, and therefore get scooped up quickly and at a premium $$. Def worth still looking for, but important to keep your options open.

2. As far as areas, Arvada is the most STR friendly of the Denver burbs in terms of non-owner-occupied rules, but they do have an occupancy limit (~65% annual) and the market is fairly saturated, so my advice is to look for a property that stands out from the crowd and MTR the remaining days not allowable for STR. District 3 in Wheat Ridge still has licenses remaining, the other districts do not. Englewood is also another area I'd look as it's near cool spots on Broadway and close to hospitals and main roads (great for MTR), and not far from Denver Tech Center (lots of corporate travelers). If you're def gonna house hack, look at Denver proper (sloans, highlands, Berkeley, wash park, city park) but be prepared to pay higher $$

3. Only other advice I have — strategize without the goal of pure cash flow. Unless you’re renting several rooms in your home and turning them over fairly frequently, it’s rare to cash flow in our market. Think more about offsetting your mortgage by a good chunk and holding your asset over 3-5 years, and then leveraging the equity or cashing in on the appreciation. That’s our market’s sweet spot, and it’s always good to play the game according to its strengths.

Good luck!

Hi Austin — I am not an experienced fix-and-flipper, but I have done 1 flip and planning to sell it in the next 1-2 years. Here are the things I looked at while analyzing my deal:

- What do the comps look like for before rehab value, and after rehab value (ARV)?

- Is there any value I can ADD aside from cosmetic? Specifically, can I create more livable sq. footage?

- How old are the major systems, and what will it cost to replace?

- What are the features sellers/renters are looking for in that specific location?

That said, for your deal I would specifically do the following:

- Ask an investor-friendly realtor in your area to pull comps and run a CMA (competitive market analysis) for what the property is valued at right now (before improvements) and after you make improvements. Investor-friendly agent is necessary as you want someone savvy enough to know what all of your options look like, what kind of rent you could collect, what it's zoned for (be careful about renting it as 2 residences if it's only zoned for 1), what some possible exit strategies could be, etc.

- Find out what the seller is looking for outside of price; perhaps there is something you can offer them to sweeten the deal (ie quick close, longer timeline, rent-back, etc)

- Ask for any documents and disclosures up front, and after you're in escrow, take your due diligence period seriously and dig into any unknowns

- Find a general contractor you trust to walk through the property with you and give you a ballpark estimate, and also see if there's a way to add a separate entrance/lock off and separate laundry (much more attractive for tenants)

And most importantly, don't let all of these bullet points overwhelm you — it can be a lot of work, but it can also be very rewarding! Shoot me a DM if you'd like to chat more, or for my help connecting you with an investor-friendly agent in your market. Good luck!

Hi @Cliff Benner! Would love to connect with you and your wife in real life, my husband and I have been pondering the same thing about land hacking. We live in Wheat Ridge. I'll send you a PM!