All Forum Posts by: Nico Dandini

@Evan Ordway good luck! Highly recommend celebrating with a North Shore roast beef when you close ;D

@Jamie Derasmo awesome points. Could you explain why an FHA loan would fall to the bottom of list of offers? Why would a seller care where the money is coming from?

Thank you!

@Evan Ordway For what it's worth, I'm house hacking a 2 bed/1 bath condo in Danvers right now. I'm not positively cash flowing, but my living expenses are much lower than it would be without a roommate ($1100/mo with roommate; $2050/mo without roommate). It feels like I'm paying a normal rent rate. Plus, I'm getting nice appreciation, so that's a win in my book.

Good luck finding a spot in Salem! Market is still competitive. A few months ago, a three-family right next door to me went on sale, got over 15 offers, and went for $90K over asking. It was a few months ago, so maybe things have cooled down in the SMF space, but who knows? 

@Danielle Jackson It's funny. I just found a decent one last night. Duplex, over $200/mo cashflow, 18% return.

However, before that, deals were more like -$500-1000+ for cashflow. So in some cases, my housing expenses would be less. Other times, it would be about the same as what I'm paying now, but there's be more equity.

@Marc Starkman I've thought of keeping my condo and investing out-of-state, but I'd have to save more money before I can do that. I figured selling the condo, putting down 3.5%, and house hacking in my local area would be the next fastest step. I guess what I really want to know if the thought process above sounds like a dumb or too risky move.

I live in an expensive area. Specifically, I'm house hacking a 2bed/1bath condo (living in one bedroom and renting out the other). I don't have enough cash to purchase a house hack without selling my condo. I have about $10K in savings, and if I sell my condo, I'll net about $30-40K. Average price for a SMF in this area is $500-600K. 

The part that scares me the most is if I sell my condo and my offer on a new SMF doesn't get accepted, I could be in limbo. Not to mention, not sure what I would do with my roommate if things didn't pan out. Also, if I do get a SMF, I won't be able to pay the mortgage on my own. I'd have to rely on tenants because I don't make enough to cover the mortgage on a SMF in this area.

My question is, would you take the chance of selling your primary to have enough funds to [hopefully] get an offer accepted and buy another property? 

Very cool project. I love the detailed breakdown. Good luck and thank you for sharing!

Understood. Thank you.

Have you ever combined a hard money loan with a conventional loan to purchase a property? 

For added context, I'm thinking about house hacking a duplex in MA, but I don't have the cash to afford the 20% downpayment. I was thinking about using a hard money loan to fund the downpayment, then do a cash out refi the following year to pay back the hard money lender. 

I've crunched the numbers to house hack with a 3.5% FHA loan, but the numbers seem more favorable with a combined HML/Conventional loan.

Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hey Dionne,

I bought a condo in Danvers last year (2 beds, 1 bath, 734 sq ft) right before the market went wild. I rent out one of the bedrooms for $950/mo while I live in the other. Doesn't cover all of the payments, but it almost cuts them in half. 

Just registered. Currently house hacking a condo in the North Shore. Curious to see what other investors are doing in the Greater Boston area.