All Forum Posts by: Devin Dang

Hi @Michael Orlando I'm no lender but will try my best because I wondering the same for a while when I was going from 1 -> 2.

From my experience, first depends which type of loan (conv vs FHA) youre going into next. One major downside going into FHA is that they cant qualify any rents from your departing residence. Whereas if you go into conv house hack next, they can qualify 75% of LONG-TERM rents (no MTR, STR,ect) to help you qualify for the next house.

So they should at the minimum count $1050 towards qualifying income ($1400*75%) and if you have another long-term lease for your side that will start soon after closing, they should count 75% of that as well. Not 100% on your side so definitely get in contact with a lender!

@Jeffrey Anderson Just out of curiosity, apart from maximizing returns do you have a preference on your own lifestyle between having a LTR roommate vs MTR roommates? 

If your #1 goal is to maximize returns then extra effort for MTR numbers will almost always beat LTR numbers (check out roomies.com for LTR room rental rates). For example, say it cost 3k to furnish a room and you could get an extra $250/month in MTR rent then thats a 100% ROI on your money and 1 year break-even.

If you dont want to deal with management, turnover, setting up listing, cleaners, new people in your house throughout the year then LTR can often make sense so you can spending more time on activities you find more valuable. If you want to build out an airbnb business, then there's value in starting to learning MTR strategy now. 

All depends where you want to go and what strategy helps you get there the fastest!

Great post @Julien Jeannot! Thanks for sharing

Hey @Robert Love, just know you have a super exciting opp ahead of you to create a strongg community and culture for people to connect, some of which may be new life long friends because of you!

1. If your goal is to maximize cashflow, then mid-term. For me, I want most value for my work + build long-term relationships instead of constantly dealing with turnover so I'm a bigger fan of long-term but either could work! 

2. facebook groups, roomies.com, and word of mouth through targeting communities that you personally enjoy (pickle ball groups, church, ect)

3. Great question! I typically write a longer than average post than most with everything laid out (what Im looking for, expectations, general location, rent, room situation, ect). If anyone responds asking a question I've already answered, I'll ignore! If someone writes a detailed response and feels like they actually put effort in, I'll follow up with then for a phone/zoom screen.

4. I have my roommates agree to a rotating chore chart that is built into the lease. I also emphasize 2/3 times during the screening process that my #1 rule is NO DIRTY DISHES OVERNIGHT. That will mitigate 75% of potential roommate issues. Couple others are quiet hours after X:XX PM and rules around guest/pets.

5. Thinking about shared kitchen space, pantry, ect should dedicate and label each shelf or cabinet for each room in the house so old food doesnt get forgotten about. I recommend getting a second fridge and throwing in garage in kitchen if there is space.

6. Monthly house hangouts where we go out to an event, dinner, grill, ect. Surprising but even though you live together, its easy to get into routine and not talk throughout the work days. Events will ensure fun culture, bonding among roommates, and ultimately less turnover.

7. Keep it as clean as possible

Hope this helps! Reach out if you need anything else

Congrats on the home purchase @Aashish Gottipati! I've set up two co-living houses now in Austin and have helped others do the same and have found a few key places to work well.

1. I'd recommend flexible leasing/housing/room rent facebook GROUPS instead of marketplace. Marketplace have gotten too much spam in the past and not worth the time

2. roomies.com a marketplace for rooms for rent

3. The best is through word of mouth, friends want to help but sometimes forget or dont know how. Reach out friends and see if they've met anyone recently that might need a place to stay. Target the communities you enjoy being apart of (church, pickleball, work, ect) to find people with similar interest/values.

Hope this helps, feel free to shoot me a message for any additional Qs!

Yoooo @Courtney Mccrear! 

Not sure if this is you but a lot of first-time house hackers I work with fall for this trap (including myself) in the beginning about trying to maximize financial return at ALL COSTS.

Often avoiding the most important question of all, where do you want to live and would enjoy the most? While youre not living there, 1 year doesnt seem that long. While living in a place you hate, it feels much longer than a year. 

To provide some context around house hacking in Austin here's what to expect if you dont assume a loan:

(1) Single family house hack with at least 5 bedrooms

(2) Multi-family with mid-term or short-term strategy in the other units

(3) Sneaky duplex - find a single family and convert a portion with separate entrance to run as hotel style STR

This is what it takes to make something work with todays rates, so if you can supercharge it with an assumable loan, only gets better!

From the king of coliving himself, that HUD HCV would be a gamechanger!

Without the right people in your corner, could easily see how someone could make a well above 10k+ mistake, esp if you get into the wrong property, wrong location, wrong renovation plan, ect.

Hi @Austin Berlick,

Great to meet you! When I was in my first house hack (4 guys in the house) I found a super reasonable used fridge on facebook marketplace and hasnt had any issues yet (2 years now). There are plenty that get the job done as a second fridge but a used appliance store will also do the trick.

As for washer and dryer since that gets tons of use and could severely lower the quality of living, I'd recommend buying new from home depot/lowes. Dont need to go super fancy but basic white reliable washer/dryer combo. Best thing is that there is delivery option so youre not worried about finding a way to transport it from a store/marketplace.

Hey @Kyle Bray! I help a lot of house hackers and this is a common question, usually centered around the absolute best ROI and going purely off numbers.

My question back to you is where do YOU want to live? If you have the opportunity to house hack anywhere, I would pick the place where your lifestyle isn't compromised because no investment is worth hating where you live.

With that being said, a general rule is that after 600k median price market then it gets a lot harder (not impossible) to house hack. So I'd stay away from the top end of expensive cities (LA, NYC, San Fran, ect).

Hey @Arezou Ed! Im big fan of vacation rental markets especially in the hill country. Austin is very saturated, can still do well but need a premium/unique product!

New braunfels is generally pretty difficult due to STR restrictions. My favorites are canyon lake, dripping springs, wimberely, fredricksburg, lakeway, lago vista.

Here is the one in canyon lake @Jordan Moorhead was referring to earlier: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/8...

Happy to chat more via zoom/phone!