All Forum Posts by: Chace Fraser

Hi @Rodolfo Diaz and welcome to BP! I know a handful in the area who could help you out. Send me a DM if you'd like me to connect you with them.

Have a great day and best of luck!

Hi @Kassandra Perez welcome to BP and THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!!!

It sounds like you're learning that investing in real estate isn't as easy as people make it sound :) But, keep going, you're doing all the right things. The quickest way to succeed is to double your rate of failure to help expedite the learning process. The more people you talk to the more you will learn how to speak with people and recognize common objections and how to handle them. 

Starting out by house hacking a multi-family property is a great and very simple way to go; it will get you into the property and give you experience you can build on right away (hint: read that sentence again). 

It's great you already have a realtor your can work with. Remember, Realtors are not all created equal. In order of importance, here’s what I think is important to look for in a Realtor. You want to make sure they:

• Have worked with house hackers before; the rules change depending on what loan type you use and how many units you purchase. There are A LOT OF TRAPS along the way that can/will make the deal fall through (and cause you to lose your earnest money). You want to be sure the agent you choose has successfully navigated them before.
• Can help you strategize the lending piece for this purchase AND purchases in the future
• Is an investor themselves

DM me if you have any questions about house hacking, I'm happy to help in any way I can.

@Brenna Crowe my (THE SKY IS FALLING!!!) questions are, if you barely qualify, do you have the ability to fund the repairs? What happens if the tenant in the other side loses their job and can't pay rent... can you afford to pay the entire mortgage? If so for how long? What if you have to go through the entire eviction process and pay those fees as well as not have rental income? If the property is vacant, how long could you afford it being vacant for?

If these questions make you nervous or defensive then I think you have your answer on whether you should proceed with the deal or not.

If you have the liquidity to be able to do this, then as Evan said, you still qualify and should go through with it. And I think his advice on how to move forward with what units to live in is spot on.

Hey @Josh Sobczak this is tough, sorry you're going through it! Whatever you decide to do before you make your purchase, make sure you have enough cash to create an emergency fund as well. In a time like this, it's easier to sell the idea that investors should have 6-12 months' worth of liquid cash reserves set aside for when it hits the fan (especially with the eviction bans currently). I'm with @Bill F. and having yield savings accounts. They're not sexy, but they're safe. This is where my wife and I keep our emergency fund and savings for our next investment.

Hey @Carlos Villalobos welcome to BP! I'm an agent, investor, and house hacker here in Portland. My specialty is working with house hackers. I'm licensed in OR and WA and would be happy to help you get started.

When it comes to finding the right lender there are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind. Lenders, like realtors, are not all created equal. In order of importance, here’s what I think is important to look for in a lender. You want to make sure your lender:

• Has worked with house hackers before; the rules change depending on what loan type you use and how many units you purchase. There are A LOT OF TRAPS along the way that can/will make the deal fall through (and cause you to lose your earnest money). You want to be sure the lender you choose has navigated them before.
• Can help you strategize the lending piece for this purchase AND purchases in the future
• Is an investor themselves

If you’d like a recommendation for a lender DM me. Whether you're looking to invest in Portland or not, I have one that I have closed many house hacking sales with (my own house hack included), and checks off all of the boxes above as well. Not to mention she’s licensed in all 50 states.

Hi @Sebastian Hernandez welcome to BiggerPockets!

House hacking is an incredible way to get into buy and hold real estate investing with a relatively low financial barrier to entry… plus the added benefit of reducing housing costs!

Getting your mindset right, setting goals, and creating a strategy are essential first steps to investing in real estate. It's also crucial to surround yourself with the right people.

There are many people that you will need to surround yourself with. To ensure success you will definitely want to associate with like-minded people, people with experience and who are already doing what it is you want to do, and people who inspire you… not naysayers, negative people, nor critics. BP is a great place to find these people, both virtually and in real life. You can find local meetups in your area by going to Network>Events up in the menu bar. I’ve found that people on BP are incredibly friendly and willing to help.

Besides surrounding yourself with the right people, the two initial and essential members of your professional team will be a lender and a realtor. You need to make sure you find quality, experienced professionals. These two members of your team can make the process great or terrible. They can make a deal happen when it looks like it’s going to fall apart or they can kill a deal that is on track to close. These two team members will help you fill out your team by leveraging their professional networks (inspectors, lawyers, escrow officers, CPA’s, etc). It’s never really too early to start making these contacts.

When it comes to Realtors, they will help you identify which areas of town are good to invest in and what to expect in rents, quality of tenants, how to analyze deals, provide you with investing opportunities (both on market and off market).

Besides figuring out what your goals are, how you want to get started, and meeting like-minded people, the first action item would be to talk to a lender. In my experience working with house hackers, the majority of the questions center around financing the deal.

When it comes to finding the right lender there are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind. Lenders, like realtors, are not all created equal. In order of importance, here’s what I think is important to look for in a lender. You want to make sure your lender:

• Has worked with house hackers before; the rules change depending on what loan type you use and how many units you purchase. There are A LOT OF TRAPS along the way that can/will make the deal fall through (and cause you to lose your earnest money). You want to be sure the lender you choose has navigated them before.
• Can help you strategize the lending piece for this purchase AND purchases in the future
• Is an investor themselves

If you’d like a recommendation for a lender DM me. I have one that I have closed many house hacking sales with (my own house hack included), and checks off all of the boxes above as well. Not to mention she’s licensed in all 50 states.

@Simon Obas congrats on moving on to property number 2! This is a balancing act because you will have to wait and see what kind of work may need to be done on your new purchase. To make the process go as smooth as possible I'd make sure the unit you're currently in is in great shape and that when you're 2-3 weeks away from moving into your new place you can start showing it to potential tenants. You can show it to people and say "Available on X date"

Would you like to reduce your housing costs? Or would you like to retire in 10 years?

Join us and we will share with you the secret of how to purchase real estate the SMART WAY... which will help you reduce your housing costs and put you on a streamlined path to early retirement!

We will discuss the real estate investing strategy called House Hacking and have professionals present to answer all of your questions.

Chace Fraser: Realtor with eXp Realty & House Hacking Specialist

Lyle Watkins: Insurance Agent/Owner of Bridge City Insurance

Jamie Helton: Lender and Branch Manager with ENG Lending

Register for the event at the link below, select "Secret Strategy to build easy wealth with real estate", and select March 18: 

https://calendly.com/mrhousehack

6:30: Presentation

7:30: Q&A

Hi @Alex Pacheco welcome to BiggerPockets! House hacking is a great way to get started investing.

There are tons of advantages to being a realtor while being an investor. I got my license because I wanted to expedite my learning of going through real estate transactions. I also wanted to learn as much as I could in regards to multi-family investing. After I passed my test I signed on with an investment minded company that specialized in multi-family properties and owned a property management company. Essentially, I was getting paid for real-world experience that I really desired and could use down the road when I wanted to house hack and own a portfolio of rentals. I was getting paid to learn what I wanted to learn in order to achieve my goals!

MLS access is wonderful, but another huge advantage of having your license is being able to roll your commissions into the downpayment of a property. Yes, you can roll your (whatever percentage) commission you get from the deal into your down payment. So if you're going to house hack with an FHA loan, you won't have to bring the full 3.5 percent down to the closing table!

The best way to find an investment friendly brokerage would be to search people on here who are brokers/agents, and ask them to recommend one or two to you (I did this by sending them a private message). Another great way would be to post on the forums who you are and what you're looking for (here's a link to the post for some comic relief). You will certainly want to associate yourself with someone who is excellent at training and doing the types of transactional real estate you want to be involved in.

If you have any questions please feel free to reach out.

Hi @Joseph Snyder , welcome to BP and thank you for your service! 

If you have enough equity to refi into a conventional loan I think refinancing out of your current VA loan to free it up again is a great idea. Sure the interest rate maybe a little higher, but rates are out of this world low right now. The VA loan is an incredible product that can allow you to purchase more real estate and build your portfolio faster. As @Kevin Zolea said, don't get yourself into a bind. Make sure your numbers still work. 

Another option you have would be to purchase your next property with an FHA loan. Not quite 0 percent down, but still a very good option.

Talk to a lender who knows what they're doing when it comes to VA loans, refinancing, and how to work with investors looking to do what you're looking to do. Preferably, they'd be an investor themselves, too. Lenders who ticks off all of these boxes are actually few and far between. Reach out to some here on BP or shoot me a message and I can get you in touch with one that I know who is licensed in all 50 states.