All Forum Posts by: Eric Yu

I bought my 4 unit building for $175,000, Saint John NB, in 2019 I could sell it now for $450,000. Rents together are $3400 each month. A home run i would say.

Im moving to San Diego next year and want to buy a house hack but its insanely expensive. I have analyses paralysis and have no idea what to do.

Do I sell and pay capital gains and dump the money into a different market or do i refi and buy something else ? Should I be a private lender since rates are so high?

My gut says don't sell and keep buying but just feeling very stuck. Help!!! any advice would be amazing!!!

Thank you

Would you be able to do a HELOC on the property & utilize that for a down payment on your San Diego house hack? With such a great cash flowing property, I would be very resistant to selling. If there's ways to tap into the equity, I'd rather go that route vs. selling for the gains.

I have a great friend @Nicholas Coulter who can help in the San Diego area. He just started house hacking himself down there.

0 Votes

Vancouver, British Columbia

Quote from @Seth Weaver:

Just finished a few deals, and now on to the next one. I have 2 options- I bought some property a year ago to build a short term rental on; however, with the talk of a possible recession coming and rent on the rise, I'm thinking it may be better to look for another multi-family deal and hold off on the STR.
If the market remains steady, the STR deal would bring in more cash flow. I just don’t know if it would hold up during a down market.

What are your thoughts? Will a short term rental hold up during a recession? Which would you choose in this situation?

Thanks in advance!

I've had conversations with lots of different investors about this topic. Usually, the sentiment is the same: buy correctly & be conservative with your estimates. That said, it's unlikely the STR market is even remotely similar to 2020 and 2021 anymore. You can't just throw money at a property & expect it to cash flow $2-$3k a month anymore. As long as you're being smart with your purchasing, you should have no issues finding good STR deals (even during a recession).

Unless it's a home run hit, I'm avoiding STRs right now. If you have a cash flowing multi-family deal where the #s make sense to you, I'd go that route instead.

1 Vote

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Quote from @Rob Appel:

I want to buy a multifamily and house hack, but not much is on the market where I am looking. I have 3 kids nearby and want to be close for their commute to school, so it limits my radius search. Should I then find a single family, fix it and move each year or what is my best option? Should I rent a place and find a BRRRR? Not sure how to go to start accumulating properties, but I want to take the Greene approach and purchase at least one per year.

What kind of budget & price point are you working off of? House hacking is going to be your lowest leverage way to get into a property, but you'll need to be confident in your #s and deal analysis. I recommend most of my newer investor clients to go down the house hack path just because you can start building experience & understanding how everything works.

What kind of goals do you have with your first property?

1 Vote

Quote from @Tara Eggenspiller:

I have about 6k so far. By the time my apartment lease is up (Sept 2023), I will have about 10k (I'm able to save about $500 a month at the moment). Obviously, this is not enough for a 20% down payment. So this leaves me 2 options to get into investing that I'm aware of:

a) FHA loan a house hack property up to about 250k. Since it needs to be my primary residence, this restricts me to a decent area in my current city. Small du- and triplexes do come available from time to time in this price range in my city. This has downsides, namely, living next to tenants.

b) short-term financing on a prop that needs rehab and can be refinanced after rehabs (BRRRR option). This option means I would still be living in an apartment after this deal. It also means I need to learn as much as possible asap about rehabbing, connect with trustworthy contractors asap, etc.

I make about 80k/year earned income as a CPA. I am super busy during tax season but have ample time to learn and invest in knowledge after April.

Which route, if either, do you think is best for someone in my situation?

Like others mentioned, a house hack on the first one will make a lot of sense. That said, don't over-leverage and put yourself in a touch spot financially. I always make sure to keep about 6-months of buffer to account for any fluctuations, vacancy, unexpected expenses, etc.

The BRRRR option will be difficult unless you can find someone who has capital to partner up with. $10k won't get you very far with financing a BRRRR deal (assuming that it isn't financeable & you need to go the HML or private lending route).

1 Vote

Love it & love your advertising haha

1 Vote

Los Angeles County, California

@Kobe McDaniel this is a pretty stacked list of people that responded in here! haha they're all worth reaching out to :)

1 Vote

Seattle, Washington

Quote from @Jerell Edmonds:

Hello everyone, I have a quick question. I am looking for a (LTR) in my area and then to expand out of state for my next one. I currently have been approved for a loan of $350,000, but it is not enough for a multi-family home in this area. So, I was wondering if it would be best to buy a (SFH) and then rent it out fully after a year. Then, I would use a conventional loan for my next house, hopefully a multi-family. Any advice would be greatly appreciated."

SFH house hack is the way to go. People have mentioned low 5% down loans, but there are some credit unions that may have options out there at 0% down. I don't know about Rhode Island specifically, but call around to your local credit unions to check.

0 Votes

Providence, Rhode Island

Hi all! Just curious for peoples' opinions on how the STR market will shape up into 2023 and onward. In the markets I'm invested in, there's been a massive supply increase, but I imagine that will return to an equilibrium once people don't see the returns they were expecting. For example, in Seattle, this winter has been brutal & plenty of properties have had extremely low occupancy (<30%). I'm viewing the next 3-6 months as more of a "survival" phase & then we'll ease back into a healthier STR market after that.

For now, I think the top 25% properties & the bottom 25% (budget) properties will do the best & anything in the middle will suffer the most.

What do you guys think & what are your predictions?

2 Votes

Quote from @Timothy Johnson:

Hello, purchase our first property it is a townhome in September 2022, using down payment assistance with 3.5% down, conventional with 6% interest. Built in 2006, we got it for 175k and it was listed and valued at 191k. HOA fee of 150$ a month. It was in bad shape cosmetically such as paint, terrible dog smell from carpets, no window screens, etc.. owner inherited it as their child had passed away so wanted to get rid of it. It is in a developing neighborhood with new townhomes across the street being sold for 300k and up. It is a 2 bedroom 1 and a half bath, 2 car garage, washer and dryer with an unfinished basement that is already insulated. We made cosmetic repairs such as painting, laminate flooring in living room instead of carpet, new vinyl in bathrooms and kitchen, new carpet, and added ceiling fans in the rooms.

The estimated ARV if we were to add another bedroom and bath is 250k, which is the plan.

My dad is a contractor so he would help me in doing so and gave me a low and high end for the cost of materials, plumbing/electrical, etc.

We don't have the funds currently to move forward with the plan but figured since we started out with equity, what would be a good strategy? I am thinking should we use some of the equity we have to fund the add on and refinance after paying for another appraisal and the value of the house increasing? My end goal would be to make some profit to use towards a down payment on a rental property in the future.

I don't believe you'll have built enough equity to do a HELOC, and also, for a cash out refi, you'd need to wait at least 6-months since you purchased the home (seasoning period). Depending on which day it closed in September, you may be be able to cash out refi in March, but Fannie/Freddie have changed their guidelines to make it a 12-month seasoning period to pull cash out now.

Run your #s to see if the amount invested adding a bed/bath is worth it. Are you gaining much extra equity compared to the cost of doing it?

1 Vote

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Quote from @Asare Nkansah:

After doing some googling, it the answer isn't very clear to this question: If I currently don't own a primary residence (just renting), can I purchase a vacation home that I visit 2 weeks out of the year for 10% down? I know it's considered a second home loan, but does it actually need to be my 'second' home?

The reason I'm asking is because I have a friend that's interested in purchasing a property in a different state (Kentucky or Florida) to use as a rental property. We're looking for ways to lower the potential downpayment. Would appreciate any suggestions

I also helped a client secure a 2nd home before they had a primary. That said, I know a lender who can service a lot of west coast states (MACU) with a 10% down investment loan program. They don't service Kentucky or Florida, but there may be other credit unions in those areas with similar programs. Good luck!

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All Forum Posts by: Eric Yu

Eric Yu has started 24 posts and replied 228 times.

Post: Should I sell?

Post: What will the future hold for STRs?

Post: House Hack vs. BRRRR

Post: Intimidated / Trying to figure out which path to take

Post: Civic Financial has frozen their pipeline! We are here to save your deals!

Post: Looking for Greater Seattle Area Investors to Connect With

Post: Approved for 350k

Post: What is your outlook for 2023 and onward?

Post: Refinance or HELOC?

Post: Can I purchase a 'vacation home' without having a primary?