All Forum Posts by: Nicholas Bossert

@Colleen F. "You can still purchase jointly with your friend without an LLC but you have to hammer out details on financials pre-purchase to be sure you are on the same page. You have to address the down payment , ongoing costs, how to hold title and mortgage. There is alot to go wrong if you aren't aligned."  - This is so important, and we both know we need to sit down together to sort it out. I have seen great friendships turn sour over money and titles. Thank you.

@Timothy Smith Thank you for the tip on the LLC. Wonderful insight regarding numbers for the house-hack, as well. I know cash-flow does not necessarily determine success of a house-hack, but sometimes I "over-obsess" on the numbers. The reason I said per-person rental is just because of my own experience renting in college - ours was phrased as "$500 per-person." I do have the average numbers for 2 and 3 unit properties for these areas (about $800 for 2). So it would be more like, the rent for my three tenants is "X", and they figure the split?

@Zachary Ray That is very true - so would you advise relying on the MLS?

@Anthony Angotti That makes sense, thank you for the advice!

I am a 24yo in the Buffalo, NY area. I have been living with my parents, and I saved roughly $45,000 to start my financial journey. I currently work in the healthcare field, and I am interested in house-hacking for my first property. I am anticipating using an FHA loan for this. As we keep hearing, this sellers-market is causing multiple offers on many of the properties I see on Zillow. I am working on access to the MLS. I am very green to this, as I have only been reading and listening to BiggerPockets over the last 2 months. I have a few questions, and any help would be greatly appreciated.

1) Experience in a graduate science-based program gave me insight to the fact that these programs are highly-competitive, and they draw in many students from out-of-state. Also, these programs typically require an in-person clerkship/rotation at a nearby clinic/hospital, which offers some back-up plan to the "remote learning" problem. I am looking at Multi's within 10mins of the local Colleges of such programs, and the respective hospitals, etc. Any advice on this type of college rental set-up? Too much of a niche to attack?

2) The average of rent charge in the areas I am looking are between $400-500 per person. I am becoming discouraged because every time I calculate $ flow or COCROI, I obtain negative numbers for each. Seems like I need to stiffen my payments to a house that is around the $130K range & minimal rehab to ensure that the total investment leaves me with a positive COCROI, but it is still practically splitting-even when I calculate. I am conservative with my income, and exaggerate my expenses a touch. My friend tells me a +cash flow the first year is not that important because when we move out, we can rent the full house at full rental potential with over 100% COCROI. Is this true?

3) Lastly, I have a good friend whom I have lived with before who is also in this same frame of mind, and same goals. All I know of LLC benefits are the tax breaks. Could I even use an FHA loan if I form an LLC? Any guidance would be appreciated.

If anyone is in the Buffalo or WNY area, or has experience in this market, I would love to hear from you. Thank you.