All Forum Posts by: Rebecca B.

Hi BP community,

I FINALLY finished house hacking a duplex in San Antonio! We lived in it for a year, remodeled both units and put in place a long-term tenant on one unit and a mid-term tenant on the other.

Here's a little more details about this deal:

*   Purchase price: $163k

* Financed price: $132k @ 7.625% APR

*   After repair (estimated value): $225k

*   Gross rents: $2150 ($750 one year lease & $1400 six month lease)

*  Annual taxes and insurance: $7000

*  Approx credit score: 650 (I used interest free credit card to pay for remodeling this property and maxing it out caused my score drop almost 50 pts!) 

I'd like to refinance into a DSCR loan and pull $35k cash out to payoff a HELOC that I used as down payment. My questions for this community would be: Does this deal make sense to DSCR lenders? And what questions should I be asking when I start shopping for a loan? Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

@Robin Simon As for your question, yes, I've fulfilled my "house hacking" term and have since moved out of the property but renovations are still underway on one of the units. Thank you for taking the time to answer and for providing the numerous resources, I'll definitely take a look at these. Much appreciate it!

@Kristen L Garner Thank you for this breakdown, so helpful!

I'm a newish investor, bought a duplex in San Antonio, TX to house hack last year. Major unexpected repairs meant we only had enough money to fix one unit in 2023, but I anticipate finishing renovations on the second unit by Summer 2024. These are the details:

• * Approx. ARV: $225,000
• * Loan balance: $135,000
• * Current mortgage rate: 7.65% APR
• * Monthly mortgage (PITI): $1520
• * Rents :
  • - 1 unit - $1500 (midterm rental)
  • - 1 unit - $800 (long term rental - anticipated rent)
• *Approx. FICO score: 690-700 (no negative marks but my DTI is kind of high at 30% usage)

The deal is not great, but please be kind. I'm doing my best to make it work. I want to refinance into a DSCR loan when renovation is complete. I've never used this type of loan product before but I'd really like to refinance into a DSCR loan. Are rates low enough for this deal to make sense? What kind of points, closing costs, and rates can I expect? Any resources where I can learn more about this type of loan?

Hi everyone,

I'm posting here because I always get such amazing feedback, so here goes... 

I work in tech, earn low six figures and we're slowing paying down debt and planning purchase a small MF next year. The plan is to purchase it and move into it, add value, and refinance and move on to the next one the year after that. 

However, I've just been approached by a talent agency to work as a 1099 employee earning almost double my hourly rate. The appeal of earning that much even with having to pay my own taxes and health insurance makes a lot of financial sense. But will it make it more difficult to qualify for a loan? I'd be able to save a lot more and more quickly, but I think banks have a long way to go when it comes to recognizing 1099 earnings. 

Anyone here switched from W2 to 1099? If so, were you able to qualify for conventional financing? Were you able continue investing in RE? Did you have to find alternative types of financing? Were you able to keep building your RE portfolio?

Hey Scott, 

I absolutely get what you're saying about net worth and LLCs, definitely food for thought. As for the good insurance, our lawyer also recommended umbrella insurance in addition to homeowner's insurance before we start renting out the ADU. I'm already working on getting quotes for that.

No easy answers, but thanks for your thoughts.

Hi everyone,

I'm new to house hacking and to landlording. I purchased a property as a primary residence and converted the garage into a studio apartment that will be ready for renting this September. I've spoken to a lawyer about putting the property into an LLC but he advised against it since I would lose my homestead protection, not to mention lose my homestead exemption tax discount. He recommends waiting until I move out to transfer my currently property into an LLC, which we agreed was the appropriate action. I plan to manage renting out the ADU myself, when I move out, the main house will also go up for rent and I'll manage that, and when I purchase my next primary home it will be a multifamily to house hack again and manage any additional doors from that property as well.

Does it make sense to create an LLC to use to rent and manage the property out? Lawyer mentioned creating a series LLC if I plan to own multiple properties, but should the property management LLC separate? Any advise?

@Myka Artis where can I find more information like meeting times/dates?

I just finished Avery Carl's book on Short Term investing and see the Gross Rent Multiplier formula as well as the Cash-on-Cash return formula. I see she also provides a sample expense sheet which was super helpful, but this got me wondering, what are the STR math formulas or calculations I should start learning now before I get started investing in STRs?

@Michael Baum Definitely need help with those hidden STR startup costs, I'll check the threads out

@Bruce Woodruff thanks, I needed to hear that :)