All Forum Posts by: Noah Bacon

Hi Richard,

I recommend using Property Manager Finder. It helps you find reliable property management partnerships and gives you everything you need to make confident hiring decisions:

• Expert Matching: Match with professionals who meet your criteria
• Extra Assurance: Licenses, experience, ratings, reviews, and more that can be cross-checked with BiggerPockets members
• Bonus Content: Receive an essential interactive workbook: “How to Interview Property Management Companies

 I would check out the blog article 17 Questions to Ask an Investor-Friendly Real Estate Agent.

After you have your questions ready, I'd recommend using BiggerPockets Agent Finder to match with a local, investor-friendly real estate agent who can help you find, analyze, and close your next deal. It's fast, free, and easy to use.

Hi Victor! Welcome to BiggerPockets and thanks for joining!

Here are some tips for networking and making the most of your account.

1) I'd fill out your profile fully before you do anything else! As that will at least help folks that you reach out to know that you are a real person, with a picture and professional bio. Particularly be sure to include your goals for real estate investing so that folks can help you.

2) Follow your favorite forum topics and set up keyword alerts! Adding keywords related to your investment strategy or market locations can be updated in your settings. You’ll receive notifications when there is conversation in the forums you follow or if a user mentions those keywords—so keep them updated often!

3) Check out some of the local meetups that you can find in this forum! There are so many so be sure to filter by your location.

4) Review Dave Meyer’s The State of Real Estate Investing Report 2024 (in your resource page as a member of BiggerPockets!) for real estate investors available to all BiggerPockets members!

5) Consider meeting with a few agents in your area even if you are just getting started! An investor friendly agent can do all sorts of helpful things, like setting you up with a search for properties or connecting you with folks who have recently done deals like the ones you want to do.

6) Consider analyzing a deal or two in your local market, just for practice, with a free use of our Rental Property Calculator (or other calculators).

Hope this helps! Please reach out with any questions you may have!

Hey Ivan! Welcome to BiggerPockets and thanks for joining!

Here are some tips for networking and making the most of your account.

1) I'd fill out your profile fully before you do anything else! As that will at least help folks that you reach out to know that you are a real person, with a picture and professional bio. Particularly be sure to include your goals for real estate investing so that folks can help you.

2) Follow your favorite forum topics and set up keyword alerts! Adding keywords related to your investment strategy or market locations can be updated in your settings. You’ll receive notifications when there is conversation in the forums you follow or if a user mentions those keywords—so keep them updated often!

3) Check out some of the local meetups that you can find in this forum! There are so many so be sure to filter by your location.

4) Review Dave Meyer’s The State of Real Estate Investing Report 2024 (in your resource page as a member of BiggerPockets!) for real estate investors available to all BiggerPockets members!

5) Consider meeting with a few agents in your area even if you are just getting started! An investor friendly agent can do all sorts of helpful things, like setting you up with a search for properties or connecting you with folks who have recently done deals like the ones you want to do.

6) Consider analyzing a deal or two in your local market, just for practice, with a free use of our Rental Property Calculator (or other calculators).

Hope this helps! Please reach out with any questions you may have!

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Welcome to the community!

Hi Aj!

Are you analyzing the deal as a rental after you move out, or just while you are living there?

It is certainly tougher now to be cashflow positive on a house hack, but is definitely not impossible. On my first house hack a few years ago, I was told that I would not be cashflow positive while house hacking. I was cashflow positive while living in the property and knew I would cash flow even more at my move out. For my second house hack, rates and values went up and I was cashflow negative while living there and am actually slightly cash flow negative moving out of the property. 

Though it is a negative cashflow move in the short term, I fully anticipate rental rates to catch up to the expenses in about 3-4 years and break even monthly. If you are currently renting, I don't see any alternative aside from house hacking where your monthly living expense can be turned into an investment. 

Hi Nikky!

I recommend using Property Manager Finder. It helps you find reliable property management partnerships and gives you everything you need to make confident hiring decisions:

• Expert Matching: Match with professionals who meet your criteria
• Extra Assurance: Licenses, experience, ratings, reviews, and more that can be cross-checked with BiggerPockets members
• Bonus Content: Receive an essential interactive workbook: “How to Interview Property Management Companies

 Finding good renters is going to be every house hackers biggest concern.

Since you are a private landlord, you can set you application guidelines as strict (within reason) as you need to feel comfortable. For example, if you find a PM that uses a 600+ credit score minimum for the portfolio they manage and you want 700+ then you are allowing the PM to follow less strict guidelines and opening you home to greater risk.

For the marketing side of things, I'd recommend using Zillow, Apartments.com, Redfin, and Facebook for potential word of mouth in your sphere. Since you are living there, it should be much easier to set up showings rather than a traditional rental traveling to the property.

The biggest mistake I have made, and seen other makes, is loosening their guidelines after a few weeks/months of vacancy because they have simply had enough. 

There is a lot that you don't know, but house hacking and managing the property yourself will give you that step, not leap, into property management where the mistakes you make will come with far smaller dollar signs and very valuable learning experiences.....and of course, you keep you hard earned rent in your pocket which will only help you moving forward.

I still have no reason to feel like you messed up! 

A very common phrase that I redundantly use is "It's not about timing the game, it's time in the game" and you are in the game!

In addition to your creative financing education, start to include education around scaling your portfolio using the equity in your home. HELOC, Refi, 1031, etc. Rates are high, and have been high for sometime now, but don't let the interest rate steer you away if the numbers make sense on the next property. There will be more competition when they inevitably come closer to 5%, so acquiring properties with assumably negotiable prices could be a massive hidden gem for you though the APR sounds scary!

Keep up the great work, Ismael!

HI Brian,

You can find BiggerPockets Pro Pricing here.

If are a Stessa Pro User, there is no additional discount off of the BiggerPocket Pro account. 

Apologies for any confusion!