All Forum Posts by: Lia Martinez

@Taylor Burns 

@Bryan Nykerk

Another concept that is growing fast is developing Coliving Homes for the Digital Nomad community and/or working professionals. Check out Coliving.com or the Coliving Hub for more information. This involves buying a larger home in the city center and then renting it out by-the-room for a higher price per room than you would generally get for typical housemate situations. 

The residents are willing to pay more because you create a community of like-minded entrepreneurs and professionals who travel the world while working. They generally range in age between 25 to 45, require solid wifi, a central location, large communal areas, and stay from 1 month to a year. 

@Taylor Burns- Great post!

I've been house hacking in the Denver area for a while. My present house (purchased 8 months ago) and past 2 properties were house hacks. I lived in each one for 1-2 years before buying another and I continue to manage them myself. These are all currently rented by the room (I have 4 housemates currently because my present primary is under rehab, so the final 3 rooms are still being finished). 

I look for SFR properties with 6 bedrooms or more with at least a 3 beds to every 1 bath ratio and ideally a second kitchen or ability to add a second kitchen. I try to also make sure there is a good amount of room for the communal areas and 2 washer/dryers. This is my idea of offering affordable housing/communal living in the central Denver area while also making significant cash flow. 

My prior home, for example, is currently renting at $675/room. It has 6 bedrooms and my mortgage with utilities, insurance, and internet included comes to just under $2000/month. My net cash flow is around $2000/month on that one house. It does require a lot more hands-on property management on my end, especially because I'm renting month-to-month. 

Given that the current group housing laws in Denver are restrictive (no more than 3 unrelated people can live in one home), I try to make friends with the neighbors and encourage bike-use instead of cars. A Denver focus committee is in the process of re-working the group home rules now, so we will see what they come up with (licensing may be in the future). As a Plan B and to follow up on what @Aditya Maini mentioned, I've also calculated rents as if I needed to rent the whole property as one unit to be sure the rent would more than suffice if needed. 

If you would like to talk more in depth about what neighborhoods and property types I look for, let me know! I love talking about this system. It provides a service to the community with affordable housing and communal living while also bringing in a lot of cash flow. 

@Linda Weygant Thanks for the invite! Yes, I would love to come. Count me in!

@Craig Curelop is correct about Denver, but the area you are talking about is mostly Aurora, so there are no restrictions. I also rent-by-the-room in a couple of my houses in Denver and have not had any problems, even with my neighbors who reported my shed to the city. 

I have a duplex and a SFR rental in the area of Aurora you are talking about. The SFR is a 6 bedroom house with 2 kitchens, 2 bath that is rented-by-the-room for $450/month/room. The price includes utilities. This home is geared towards a specific demographic: the 40-65 year-old single men who work jobs like service industry and construction. The home is not in the best shape, but the guys that live there seem pretty happy and only call if something stops working that they can't fix themselves. There is one guy that acts as property manager of a sort.

I've also thought about getting another home in the area that is directed at the medical crowd, but it would need to be nicer quality. My duplex is rented to a single young man and a young family. There was a bedbug issue earlier this year because the duplex next door is filled with Somalian refugees that apparently don't bathe (according to the tenants). 

In my opinion, the neighborhood is still rough, yes. But it is right between the medical campus, Park Hill, the slowly revitalized Colfax, and the Stanley marketplace/Stapleton. I would live there and I continue to look for good rentals in the area. There is good access to restaurants, gym, grocery, and vet with Stapleton next door (that's more than I can say of Cole, where I currently live). I do make sure to buy as close to Monteview or north of there as possible. 

Thanks @Joe Fairless for tagging me on this thread. 

I met with so many inspiring investors last year, it encouraged me to take on bigger projects and begin moving into the commercial investing space. I'm looking forward to another BEST EVER conference in 2018!

Thank you all for your advice! I will start giving some of these CPA's a call. 

I am looking for a recommendation for a good CPA in the Denver area. I have my K1 done already for 2016, but filed an extension and need to complete my personal taxes. With a W2 job, a business and more rental property every year, it's essential for me to find an accountant who knows how to work with real estate investors. 

Ideally, I would like to work with this accountant long term to develop a solid business and personal tax strategy. Thanks for your help!

Hi @Logan Turner, similar to what @Jared Bouzek is suggesting, I also did this exact same thing here in Colorado last year. I originally purchased the LLC to buy the house because the contract was not assignable. It took me a lot of searching until I found a mortgage banker who would do it. Please PM if interested in his contact info, I've since closed 4 more properties with him. The catch was that I could only do up to 80% LTV from the purchase price, not the appraisal price (in my case, very different numbers) if I did the refi within 6 months of quit claiming the LLC.

I would love to come, buy it's a pretty far away for me. Are you guys still planning to attend the BP meetups at the Bicycle Cafe?

@Kerry Boyle @Travis Sperr @Wayne Brooks @Ned Carey @Clint Shelley @Ken Corsini Thank you all for your advice. The draw fee is not mentioned in our docs and I did specifically ask if there were other fees associated in my emails to the lender. They responded that there were no other fees. I am going to write the lender and ask that they decrease the draw amount to $100 given that we had no notice and it's not in our loan docs, but we do want to build a good relationship with them. Thanks again.