All Forum Posts by: William P.

Hey Matthew!

I am also interested in any meet ups for people within Butler. Please keep me in the loop if you find anything or consider making one.

Hello Leatha!

I am curious to hear other's perspectives regarding Oxford Housing. I do not have any experience with them personally, but do have experience in part with master leasing agencies that provides other ways for a win win situation between landlords and helping others out. I would recommend you to speak with your local housing agency or better yet LHOT to learn about the players in your area for this. Essentially the lease is between the landlord and an agency who then sublets out to the clients they help get stabilized with your housing. Generally, the populations that are assisted are those whom may have the following backgrounds who are in need of stable housing: victim of abuse, veterans, mental health, and/or addiction. Best of luck!

Hello Austin!

Between those options, I personally just started my real estate journey with option B after spending a lot of time between getting my financials together, education, and formulating my general plan for now. When you are house hacking you will generally be living at that property for at least a year which is plenty of time to build some sweat equity and hands on education regarding some DIY projects & being a landlord. With that in mind remember to utilize contractors insight when needed and/or other resources and do it with them which continues to build the sweat equity and education. Whenever I was looking for a house, I was more focused on building my momentum than I was getting that perfect BRRRR deal with 0 hands on experience in the game. I also was making sure there wasn't any major projects I wasn't uncomfortable with and essentially looking for something with good bones. I wish you the best with your endeavors and feel free to reach out anytime!

I have tested out some other websites, but I really like cozy and my tenant has no problems with it after getting it set up.

I would encourage you to continue with dedicating your downtime to learning as much as you can, building up some capital with a job while you learn, and obtain some kind of business plan to get started. Like Cory said, house hacking is a great first step that I actually started out with as well.

I only have one duplex so far and I inherited one tenant with that. It has overall been a good experience as they were there for some years and have been pretty grateful with a new owner whom is looking to improve the home and has more modern ways of communication/rent with cozy. If the tenant is paying their rent, is not wrecking the home or other unwanted behaviors why not have them there? Along with this, is depending on their current lease, you will most likely need to keep them there for at least 30 days or longer. Rent adjustment may be a consideration compared to the last lease agreement, but that can be changed over time, a long term tenant is more important than that potential 50 dollar difference per month right now.

Hello Syed!

I started my first real estate property by house hacking a duplex at the start of COVID actually. I did alot of research, educational learning through podcasts, reading, videos, and in-person resources prior, along with getting my financials in order. I honestly didn't get too into focusing on return on investment and was more so just sticking to my criteria to build up some moment and getting my feet wet. Brandon from bigger pockets seems to also have this mentality for first time investments as the first property wont make you rich, but will teach you alot to continue building up the momentum. 

Overall my experience has been great and I have learned alot with actually being a business as a sole proprietor, financial aspects to consider, DIY and contractor experiences, legal considerations and other knowledge gaps such as taxes I wanted to speak with a professional about, and overall confidence for continuing further. 

My primary things I was looking for was a duplex within my downtown area that was close to local resources, was structural sound, smaller aspects that could be improved on the house for increased equity, and good parking/laundry functionality. After getting my first home I looked into the BRRRR method and I would recommend to look into that as well.

Congrats on the first step! I just did my first house hacking this year and it has been great. When it came to my policy, I had homeowners that had some extra stuff for the other side. Talk to your insurance company about it, this is not the first time they have experienced this. Your homeowners covers you (the house, liability, and your items/appliances), while the renter's insurance covers their belongings that are not covered under your policy and their negligence. 

You should only force tenants with that clause of requiring renter's insurance if you are going to enforce it. However, regardless of that you should always recommend it to your tenant(s) and explain why it is important. 

Andrew is correct that it is ideal for both renters insurance from your tenants and homeowners with you being the ideal situation. All and all talk with your insurance company as you will be getting  multi-policy discount and browse around for the best deals without being upsold for extra coverage that isn't needed.

I have encountered that rule with my mortgage and I assume with refinancing it is generally the same. Essentially from what I have experienced, if you have a genuine reason/need to move from your current primary residence the lender whom you are trying to get another mortgage as a primary residence with will be okay with that. Otherwise it is possible for red flags as fraud in some cases in getting a primary residence rate when the intention was to turn it into an investment property/rental right away. My initial lender was my local credit union and they wouldn't work with me without me waiting out the whole year, or was at least resistant to it. I ended up getting a referral for a mortgage lender and was able to move forward with my new primary residence despite being under the one year mark, however I had valid reasoning. Best of luck!

Hello Harrison!

Sounds like an exciting time for you, keep doing your due diligence and research/learn everyday! I personally recommend house hacking with a duplex/multi-family property for your first go around. Regarding your team I am not sure what area you are in, but I personally made a list of contacts for each type of role I wanted/need. I started out with with those I knew, those whom were recommended to me (fellow business owners I knew and asked for their thoughts) , and what good ole google could tell me (doesn't hurt to check out this website for people in your area if you live in or near a big city). That way I had multiple contacts/referrals in case something fell through, especially with contractors.

When it comes to your questions, I personally scoured the interwebs like this site, podcasts/youtube, and others forms of educational media to gain a foundation of understanding and there is a pleurae of book recommendations as well people can always provide. I highly recommend breaking down your questions into categories and doing your own research first before paying someone to tell you information you can independently get a foundation for, otherwise mentoring is also an option.

With my first property I did house hacking with a duplex. I did research and networking in my area for years while working my 9-5 job. By the time I was ready I had a general business plan to start out with, a type A rockstar realtor, my finances in order with understanding my budget, and honestly went from there. My realtor knows the area pretty well and is able to recommended people for various needs I have needed or was curious about such as a lawyer, contractors, etc.

Hope this helps some, best of luck with your real estate journey!