All Forum Posts by: Jeff Schemmel

Hey welcome!  Colorado is one of my favorite places in the U.S. I'm a househacker myself, and I do some indoor bouldering now and again.  Vertical endeavors is a great local gym, Minneapolis bouldering project another great option over your way!  happy to help if you need some direction or just want to meet and chat with some local investors, lots of folks responding here are part of local meetups.  There are some great ones on facebook, and others more informal where investors are showing off their projects - those are the fun ones where you can talk numbers and learn about local market challenges.  Lots of us have good connections with realtors, lenders, etc and many of us fulfill hybrid roles like that.  Both cities just enacted some rent control legislation you'll want to make yourself aware of, and there's plenty of good forums going around BP about that.  reach out anytime, and good luck!

I like using 401ks for this. I did it myself, and no regrets. Great way to get the most out of your cash. Was the bathroom functional prior to gutting it or was it just too rundown or ugly for market-rate rents? I'm always interested in added bedrooms as well, have future plans to do that in my own duplex, curious what enabled the bedroom addition and how complex it will be for you guys. Nice job finding an opportunity to force equity on the MLS; it's there, just need to look for it!

I view this as a mistake, but it may not be very material on paper.  It's just something I'm going to pay more attention to in the next transaction.  Closing and loan costs were something I glossed over during my first purchase of a duplex.  I was so hyperfocused on becoming an investor and landlord that I neglected the proper due diligence to look through the line items and make sure I knew what I was paying for and that the value was there.  I also think when you're house hacking you blur the lines a bit between "this is my home" and "this is my rental" and it can be easy to legitimize putting tile backsplash in when it's really not necessary.  Stuff adds up :)

@Devin Danielson Glad to see you taking the first steps!  Getting your first property is the gateway to so many awesome relationships and accomplishments in life.  I concur with @Tim Swierczek a great investor-lender and investor-realtor are two key relationships to build, then the rest can fall into place fairly easily and quickly. Those two people likely have contacts for the rest of the people you'll need to round out your Rolodex and may have deals to expose you to that the MLS or zillow didn't have. House hacking is a great way to start, you can learn how to be a landlord and develop those relationships along the way. One thing I would not wait for is learning about what it takes to be a landlord in MN, you don't want to be surprised by that. If you buy a property with occupants, you inherit any existing leases on closing day. Good luck!

@Jordan Moorhead 2nd question, were the tenants already planning to vacate, or was that an action you took on closing?  if so, how did you play that?  were you considering a scenario where tenants didn't want to leave?

@Jordan Moorhead i'm super excited to hear more about this, great work man. I'd love to learn more about how you recyle the FHA, i'm nearing year one in my first multi-family house hack and looking forward to the next one but up against the barrier of entry to property 2 being mortgage strategy. I make too much for a low-down 5% option and my current property may have 8-10% equity. Any tips?

@Cameron Tope I did the exact same thing, it's nice to pay yourself that interest isn't it?

although I agree with Greg, I may also consider buying a property that may not cash flow "right now", but I had a 2-year plan to make it happen.  I looked at Quads in st. paul with low rents and long-term tenants that, given 1-2 years of house hacking and, cycling tenants, and rehab would be a pretty nice buy and hold.  When I run deal analysis I run it three ways...1.) owner-occupy because I house hack, 2.) Non-owner occupy, and 3) year three cash-flow with necessary rehab projects and rent progression.

I had to get over this myself, and in some ways I still do one thing that puts me in this frame of mind..."I create problems before they're problems".  If you're concious of that, you can start building the "muscle-memory" that tells your brain..."hey, i'm worried about this, but I have a plan when and if it happens and i'm a smart person who will figure it out."  

This is hard to do, and those things keep you up at night sometimes. It helps me to have a network of people that are ready to support and you'll find that in most REI groups, meetups, masterminds, local investors, etc... Surround yourself with people who are doing it and they will lift you up because they want to see you succeed too.

You got this!  Train your mind to view opportunity and the reward ahead as something way more fun and worthwhile than sitting bored and anxious.

-Jeff

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