All Forum Posts by: Craig Curelop

@Zack Haberle - Welcome to BiggerPockets! The Denver area is definitely a great place to invest. Aurora is great for cash flow. The strategy @James Carlson mentioned above, works amazingly. I also have a few clients that are doing this and from a cash flow perspective, a single family in any suburb of Denver is hard to beat. 

That being said, there is a bit more risk and work involved in a single family rent by the room. However, the difference in rent can be upwards of $1,000 per month compared to renting out the house as a whole. Kind of a no-brainer for me....

@Mateo Steele - Welcome to BiggerPockets Mateo! Typically the best strategy for someone as young as you are and just starting out is house hacking. 

You can 100% do this in Denver and you can do it quite successfully. I am going on my fourth house hack, all of which cash flow me over $1,000 per month. I am not some anomaly, I know dozens of others who have also achieved similar returns in Denver. You just need to get a bit creative. 

The strategy that works well is finding a single family and renting it by the room. You will get the price of a single family home while getting rents of a duplex or triplex. Really hard to lose with this strategy. 

Happy to chat more about it if you'd like! 

@Jeremy Babin - Congrats on getting close! BiggerPockets is definitely the place to learn. I have done a handful of house hacks and BRRRRs in the Denver market. 

Happy to chat - just shoot me a direct message on BiggerPockets and we can set up a time if you're interested. 

@Phillip Luna - If you are House Hacking, then I highly recommend the VA loan. It requires no down payment so you can purchase a loan with just paying the closing costs (usually $3,000 to $5,000).

One downside to the VA loan is that the process typically doesn't go as smooth. Reason being is that your lender does not pick the appraiser. The VA sends out their own appraiser and they can be very strict.

Also, you may need to offer a little more with a VA loan. These are some of the least appealing to sellers. If you are in a competitive market and a seller receives two offers. Let's say the VA loan is $5,000 higher than a conventional. The seller may still opt for the buyer who is using a conventional option.

Every seller has a tipping point by which the VA loan offer will win. It's just a matter of hitting that.

@Summer Noyes - Here is what you do. 

1. Create a shared bank account between you and your partner. 

2. Both of you fund that bank account the appropriate amounts

3. Make sure the mortgage you obtain deducts from that bank account. 

4. Make sure all rent gets deposited into that bank account.

5. WHOEVER LIVES IN THE HOUSE.... PAYS RENT

6. At the end of the month, quarter or year, any money left over you decide if you want to reinvest it to pick up more properties or take it as dividends split evenly between you and your partner. 

@Mitch H. - I haven't seen much of a slowdown at all in obtaining tenants. I have filled rooms and units in all phases of the pandemic and nothing really seemed to slow down. 

If that is your hesitation to invest, I would suggest not worrying about it and jumping in! 

@Sara Mickelson - Welcome to BiggerPockets! Loveland is a great place to invest. Prices are still relatively inexpensive and you are close to all of the fun things up in Northern Colorado.... Longmont, Boulder, Fort Collins, etc. 

I have a friend/client named Savannah who just purchased a house hack up in Loveland. Just a few minutes away from the hospital up there. 

Happy to make the introduction if you'd like. Just shoot me a message! 

@Adam Knickelbein - The market is the all powerful! You need to TAKE what the market gives you. In Boulder, prices are extraordinarily high, but appreciate pretty well and you will almost always have someone to fill your vacancies. Money aside, it is an "easy" place to invest because you can fill the vacancies and will get good appreciation. That being said, you PAY for having this luxury. 

I would recommend looking outside of Boulder. There are plenty of properties in Longmont, Erie, Louisville, Superiors, Loveland, Greeley, Westminster, Arvada, Thornton, and areas like this where you can easily find single family homes, rent them by the room and cash flow to the tune of $1,000 per month. 

Other options, of course, are to invest out of state. However, that's a lot more risk and effort if you don't already have connections with a team. 

@Jenni Mohoney - I wouldn't write off Denver just yet! There are plenty of new investors getting in here. They are typically using the house hacking strategy. With house hacking, you can put a relatively low amount down (3% to 5%), purchase a 1-4 unit property, live in one part, and rent the others. 

Single family homes and renting the rooms tend to work best in this area. However, the downside is you will need to live with roommates. 

If you are willing to sacrifice a little bit of cash flow for comfortability, you can foray into the multi-family space. Either works! 

@Madigan Tumilowicz - Welcome home, Madigan! Looks like we made a similar transition. Before living in Denver, I was also living in San Francisco. It sure is hard to make anything work out there. 

As for strategies that work in Denver, a true BRRRR is very difficult. The main reason being that you need to find yourself a killer dealer. If you purchase a run-down property here, you will need to add $60k to $80k (or more after rehab costs) to take your money out.

The best strategy that works in Denver is house hacking. I am going on my fourth and have helped dozens of other people do so. It works every time if you put in the effort and work to make it happen. If you and your husband are OKAY with living with people, buying a single family house and renting it by the room is a pretty good strategy. 

If not, finding a property with a downstairs separate entrance (or figuring out an inexpensive way to create one) will allow you to AirBnb the bottom or even rent it out full-time. This will likely offset most of your mortgage payment and likely even cover it during Airbnb summer months. 

Otherwise, you can do the live n flip strategy. Since you and your husband aren't afraid of a little bit of sweat equity. You can buy a smaller property that isn't in the best shape. Fix it up over the course of 2-years then sell it tax-free (up to $500k). 

Hope this helps!