All Forum Posts by: Travis Wylie

Hello @Angela Comis.  The best advice I can give is to clearly state to yourself what your criteria is and don't deviate from that.  All that being said since you're looking for a house hack I would analyze the property as if it was a rental first and then start looking into your owner occupant criteria.  For me personally I would focus on 4 units and if you can't find any in your price range/market then go to 3.  Often times you can still cash flow a little bit on a 4 unit house hack in this area, but on a duplex can be more difficult and is often more a 'living for free' or 'cheap' scenario but not cash flowing while living there.  Continue to network at local real estate meetups and starting looking for a good realtor that's familiar with the market you're looking at.  If you don't have a realtor don't be afraid to starting calling the listing agent of any property you're interested in.  I started out that way and a selling point I used was that they are getting double the commission as a buyer/listing agent, you'll find that some agents might communicate a little faster for you.  That being said on a first deal you must be very cautious since you don't have the experience yet and some people/agents will frown on this strategy because the listing agent is going to have a fiduciary responsibility for the seller and not necessarily the buyer.  Because of that I would continue to educate yourself on all things house hacking so that you can speak intelligently and also know if this agent is worth their commission because you have a better understanding of how the process should go because you educated yourself.  If you do go this approach, once you do find an agent that communicates with you well and understand the rental market you're looking at, latch on the them and have them set you up with automatic emails where any new house that matches your criteria will get sent to your email daily.

Don't be afraid to reach out to BiggerPockets or message me should you have any questions along the way.  

Lastly, if you haven't already I would first start finding a good lender so that you know what you are approved for so you can narrow your search down to that price range.  This will at least give you a rough idea what you're approved for but keep in mind that if some of the units are occupied they will be able to count a portion of that rent income to help you qualify for a larger loan, but also be aware that inherited tenants can also come with a bigger headache and cost you more money than a vacant unit so do your due diligence on that tenant as well.

Welcom @Abdel A.!  I'm a fellow real estate investor in Harrisburg.  I would strongly recommend checking out some of the local real estate meetups in the area.  There are a couple in Harrisburg and one in Camp Hill.  You can find the info on meetup app or meetup.com

Good luck!

I wish I had your foresight when I was your age.  Man, I'm talking like I'm old!  Way to save up that amount of money as a college student.  Sounds like you're off to a great start with a good plan of action.  Good luck!

@Charles S. I'm not a wholesaler, but I'll be happy to educate you about the Harrisburg market.  Feel free to message me and ask any questions you may have.  Good luck!

Hello @Angela Comis!  I would highly recommend going to some of the local real estate meetings.  There are a couple in Harrisburg that are great as well as Lebanon, Lancaster, and Camp Hill.  You can find this on meetup.com.  House hacking is a great strategy and how I got started.  Good luck!

My recommendation would have been to find those team members before you formed your LLC.

If you're searching for 'blanket loans' I would recommend asking the bank if they can do a separate release for any property that you might sell that was financed with this 'blanket loan'.

I'm in PA - I've had great success with S&T bank with their portfolio loan program, but I don't think they lend in Jersey.  

Congratulations @Benjamin Burket for taking action and completing your first deal.  Seller financing at that!  Hope to hear more stories from you soon.  Good luck!

@Brandon Wagner - Unfortunately I'll be unavailable for that meeting, but message me and we can try to get together this weekend possibly

@Gregg Shulenberger - To be honest I haven't made it to any of the Lancaster meetups, just the Harrisburg ones/Camp Hill/York/Lebanon.  My friend @Kyle McCorkeldid a meeting with other investors at Troegs Brewery once and we were just talking about doing another one soon.  I will certainly let you know when that happens if you have any interest with meeting some other local investors and talk real estate over a few cold ones.

Hello @Brandon Wagner.  I would recommend downloading the 'Meetup' app or going to www.meetup.com and search real estate and you will find all the local real estate clubs in the area.  One of them is CARPOA (Capital Area Rental Property Owners  Association) that @David Krulac is a part of as well.  Let me know when you're heading into the area and if possible maybe we can meet up.