All Forum Posts by: Kayla Givens

Hey @Amy Templeton! I know this post is from 4 months ago but curious if you ever got started with this group home? I recently purchased a home in Englewood, CO as a sober living home and my boyfriend, who runs the business, spent a ton of time reaching out to other sober livings to get info on how much to charge for rent, where to find members, etc. If you haven't already, I would start there and reach out to anyone that's already in the business that's willing to talk to you :) 

Hey, @Joe Acot! Welcome to the wild world of real estate investing! I am also in my 30's and just got started with investing this past year - the best time to get invested in real estate is always yesterday and it's better late than never!! :) 

To answer your questions:

1. What was your job before real estate? What made you decide to do rental properties?
   1. I worked retail for the last 6 years and made my way into upper management. I too read Rich Dad Poor Dad and the lightbulb went off and kept getting brighter and brighter every time I walked into my store to clock in. I ended up leaving my job in June to pursue real estate full-time and will NEVER go back
2. Did you buy a multi when you started?
   1. I purchased a SFH and am house hacking - we do something that is a little bit unique in that we run a group home out of hour house hack. The cool thing about this is that we are able to charge normal rent by the bed instead of by the room (typical of group homes to have more than one bed per room)
3. Did you house hack?
   1. Yep! See above!
4. how did you come up with the money for the purchase?
   1. I used my employee share plan for my down payment. Because my home is owner occupied, I was able to do a conventional loan with MIP at 4% down. I paid less than $20k to get into my house with down payment and closing costs!
5. Did you scale up to more units?
   1. Not yet - we are working on this first house hack and plan to scale our business by continuing to purchase properties and house hack
6. where are you located?
   
   1. Denver Metro area! Our house is located in Englewood, CO.

Best of luck to you with your real estate investing journey! And like I said, better get started late than never!

Hey, @Nina Telthorst! Sounds like a really great opportunity! How many lenders have you talked to? I have someone in mind that is very investor-friendly and might be able to provide a little bit more insight than I could. Happy to connect you!!

Hey, @Jonah Cervantes! Congrats and welcome to the wild world of real estate investing - I wish I had found real estate investing when I was your age! :) 

Echoing @Brendan Miller - House Hacking is definitely one of the easiest ways to get your foot in the door. Buy a 2-4 unit property, live in one of the units, and rent the others. If multifamily is outside of your budget, you can always do rent by room strategy in a single-family home or look into a short-term rental strategy with something like Airbnb or VRBO. 

If you are not eligible for a VA loan, you can go the FHA 3.5% down route or Conventional 3-5% down. The goal is to put as little money down as possible and after a year, do it again and move into your next house hack!

Hey @Tara Rose Iguidbashian! Congrats on getting this deal done - sounds awesome and I am curious what neighborhood this is in and what the cash flow looks like? 

Hey, @Alexis De La Cruz! Echoing @Curt Davis - I would definitely have each individual person sign a lease for their own room if they do not know each other. 

Best of luck with your house hack! Do you have tenants ready?

Hey, @Jeffrey Daguro! Fellow food lover over here - I am NOT a cook but I am really good at eating food :) I found BiggerPockets earlier this year and it was a game changer! Definitely keep listening to the podcast and learn as much as you can - there are so many resources available and tons of people willing to help you or point you in the right direction.

Best of luck! And do keep us posted on your food truck!! :) 

Hey, @Marcel Mckenzie! Congrats on getting started in real estate investing! The time is always now to get started and it sounds like you have a good idea of what strategy you'll want to implement. 

I am not a lender, but my question for you is, would you still feel the same about paying down your loan/refinancing if you were cash flowing? Meaning, if you were cash flowing with an FHA loan, why not use a conventional 3-5% down on the next property? You don't always have to go the FHA route and could wait to refinance out of your FHA while continuing to accumulate properties and grow your portfolio.

Just a thought and like I said, I am not a lender. I would highly recommend reaching out to an investor-friendly lender in your area to get their advice on how to implement the best strategy for you and your goals!

Congrats on making big moves, @Curtis Cheshire ! Dave Ramsey and Robert Kiyosaki were both helpful for me as well in my journey to being debt-free (consumer debt), quitting a job I hated, and pursuing real estate to gain financial freedom. 

Best of luck!!

Hey, @Adam Sieloff! Congrats on making your first post! It sounds like your long-term lurking is paying off and you've got a good plan in place. 

I am not a lender, but from what I understand, you should be able to us an FHA loan to purchase a multifamily unit as long as you intend to occupy one of the units as your primary residence. FHA is not Fannie or Freddie so I would try reaching out to an investor-friendly lender. Try searching BP for someone in your area as I'm sure there are many people on this site that would love to help you!