All Forum Posts by: Sean Walton

@Jim Kent I would read into the local rules on Accessory Dwelling Units it may not be exactly your goal but a lot of cities with housing shortages allow ADUs aka In-law units to help alleviate housing shortages.  

Do you know if the place is well insulated? Double paned windows? Does the place have good solar exposure to the south that can help heat the place on sunny days. All those things can help keep their bill down I know in chicago Con Ed charged me a lower amount per kWH in the winter because of the electric heat. You could look into that in your area

In the time since you posted you could have ordered business cards from vistaprints for $10 and had them here already. Don't get hung up on branding yet just keep moving forward til you have your 1st deal

There are a lot of questions there so I'll just pick the ones I have some knowledge on.

2. You can get into trouble renting out the whole house full time right away. Usually loans have certain rules about how long you must live in the place before you turn it into a full time rental. But if you are airbnbing from time to time when you go on vacation I doubt they will care (I'm not a lawyer this is not legal advice).

3. I'm not a CPA so always check with them, but generally I think it is treated the same way as any rental income the only difference is most cities or counties have a hotel or transient occupancy tax. Some explicitly state you need to collect it and send it to them. Some cities make airbnb collect it. Some have no policy and may start collecting it, and in rare cases, retroactively go after host to get back taxes. So I would do some research and make sure it cashflows even if they add a 14% tax later.

5. The definition I usually hear with house hacking doesn't have to do with flipping. You buy a place and rent out units or rooms within your place in order to live for free or close to it. If your numbers work you are house hacking. If your exit strategy is to sell it down the road try and wait 2 years to get long term as opposed to short term capital gains tax.

@Jared StroebeleI would consult with a local builder or architect but my understanding is that it could cause cracking of the slab. If it heaves on one side of the house and not the other it could cause the floors to slope. The good news is climate change is reducing the likelihood of frost causing problems.

Instead of every 2-3 days in a competitive market make it part of your everyday early morning routine as soon as new listings post. Wait for ones that fit your criteria and put in an offer that makes sense with your numbers. Every once in a while you will get an owner in a rush to close

In cold climates you want to make sure the deepened perimeter of the slab is below the frost line so the expansion of frozen soil doesn't heave the building up, but if it has been fine since the 50's you should be ok. I'm not sure how you would check that now anyway other than taking a shovel out there

Welcome to BP. I would also love to hear about your rehab and get a SF group meetup going

Welcome to BP

If you buy it as an LLC you will probably have trouble getting a 30 or 15 year fixed especially if the LLC is new. You may only be able to get an ARM. That is what I was finding. If you have a lot of other assets you are trying to protect it may be worth it.