Episode Transcript
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Joseph Marohn (00:12):
What up everyone
and welcome back to the Real
Estate Unlocked podcast.
I'm your host, joseph Marro,and today we're going to be
covering a super exciting topicin real estate a must-have tool
in your property investmentarsenal, a creative way to
subsidize your existing mortgage.
Today's topic is all abouthouse hacking.
House hacking is a real estatestrategy that involves
(00:35):
purchasing a property, thenrenting part of that property
out to help subsidize yourexisting mortgage.
House hacking can only make iteasier for you to own your own
home, but it can also help youto build more capital to invest
in more real estate or otherbusinesses.
Now, if you're intrigued by theidea of making your home work
for you, this episode is goingto cover all the groundwork of
(00:57):
house hacking benefits, how toget started and the various ways
you can implement it today.
Now you know how we do it onthe Real Estate Unlocked podcast
.
If we're going to do it, we gotto do it right.
We can't just bring on anyoneto speak about house hacking.
We got to bring on the queen ofhouse hacking.
Today, our special guest on thepodcast is Miss Lisa Field
(01:22):
Moore.
In 2017, lisa's multifamilyinvestment journey began by
house hacking her first homeTogether with her husband.
She now owns 19 doors acrosseight different properties.
She is also a limited partneron 192 unit syndication in North
Carolina, with notable figureslike Veena Jetty and Pace Morby,
(01:45):
with the power of real estate.
Lisa was able to quit hercorporate job in 2021 and has
since then invested heavily innetworking and education to
pursue her goals in acquiringlarger multifamily assets.
Becoming a VP at her local RealEstate Investors Association,
she has now been given theopportunity to share her passion
(02:06):
with others.
So, without further ado I'vebeen talking long enough
Everyone if you will, pleaseallow me to formally introduce
to you Lisa Moore.
Lisa, talk to us.
How are you doing today?
Lisa Moore (02:22):
I am doing excellent
.
Thank you for having me, Joseph.
I'm excited to be here.
Joseph Marohn (02:27):
Yeah, no problem.
Thank you for joining us and totalk about this excellent topic
.
Yeah, lisa, I know you have avery tight schedule, so thank
you for joining us today to talkabout, in my opinion, one of
the greatest ways to get startedand familiarize yourself with
real estate investing, but, evenfurther than that, finding a
way to get creative in a timewhere we're dealing with not
(02:49):
only high interest rates butalso high mortgage payments that
most people just can't affordright now.
So, thank you.
Lisa Moore (02:56):
You're welcome.
Joseph Marohn (02:58):
You ready to drop
some gems?
Lisa Moore (02:59):
Let's do it.
Joseph Marohn (03:01):
Let's go.
So what's your story, lisa?
You've been doing real estateyour whole life, or what?
Lisa Moore (03:06):
No, I started in
2017.
I'd always been interested inreal estate, but I wish I had
started when I was younger.
But I got started in 2017.
I was early 30s about 33 when Ibought my first house and house
hacked it.
I grew up in Massachusetts.
I moved to Salt Lake City in2016.
(03:27):
I knew that I wanted to buy aproperty, so I spent the first
year just figuring out where Iwanted to buy it, and I also
knew that I didn't want to haveto pay for all of it myself.
I wanted to subsidize mymortgage.
So it was a great option.
House hacking I don't think theterm even existed back then,
but it was a great way to beable to buy my first property,
start building that equity andbuilding that asset and having
(03:50):
others pay a good portion of mymortgage.
Joseph Marohn (03:52):
So that's awesome
.
I really love this term, youknow.
It's a great way for, like newpeople to really just get into
real estate, you know, and kindof learn the ins and outs of you
know, getting familiar with youknow, with tenants and property
managing, if you will.
I think it's just a great wayfor people to get started.
People always ask all the timelike how do I get started in
real estate?
(04:12):
And I always say house hackingis a great way to get started.
Lisa Moore (04:16):
Yes, I know so many
people in there and there's no
wrong way to get started.
But it always amazes me whenpeople they want to get started
and they always go like towholesaling and flipping and I'm
like man, like those are notlike to me how it's like you
need a place to live right youknow everyone needs a roof over
their head and if you're goingto be paying money towards your
(04:39):
living expenses, why not pay ittowards something that you own
and if you can rent out aportion of it and get that
subsidized?
you know the house we live innow is we still house hack?
We rent our basement and theypay like 93, 94% of all of our
living expenses.
So we're living in a house thathas appreciated greatly since
we bought it and it costs us afew hundred bucks a month, so
(05:02):
it's an awesome way to getstarted.
Joseph Marohn (05:04):
Absolutely.
I couldn't agree with you morethere.
So let's let's put ourselves inthe same shoes.
As someone that is completelynew to real estate.
Maybe they heard of this termbefore, but not quite sure
exactly what it is.
How would you define househacking in the simplest terms?
Lisa Moore (05:20):
To me, it's just a
way to generate income from the
place you live.
Joseph Marohn (05:25):
Awesome.
You couldn't have simplified itany more than that.
Lisa Moore (05:29):
And it isn't just
renting a bedroom, like a lot of
people they may not want torent a bedroom or something like
that it's just generatingincome from your property, so it
doesn't necessarily meanrenting to other people.
There's a website calledPeerspace, so if you have a
house with a cool backyard orinside or something like that
(05:54):
like or a podcast studio in yourhouse, you can put it on
Peerspace and people will rentthat.
You have an extra shed or anextra garage?
That's a storage unit.
You could rent that.
So it's not necessarily alwayshaving somebody living in your
house.
It's just any way to generatemoney from your residence.
Joseph Marohn (06:10):
I've heard some
crazy stories.
People really get creative withthis stuff.
I've heard people renting outtheir garage space that's pretty
smart to contractors andwhatnot.
And then I've even heard peoplerenting out their pool and
having people pay for lessons totake their children to go
swimming and stuff.
It's like crazy what you coulddo with this stuff.
Lisa Moore (06:29):
Yeah yeah.
You have a pool for lessonslike that or photo shoots.
You put it out there.
You never know who's going tobe looking for what to do some
photo shoots or swim lessons orwhatever.
So you have a cool space orsomething like that.
Put it out there.
You never know what you mightbe able to get as far as income
in some of these websites.
Joseph Marohn (06:48):
Right.
So what are the first steps abeginner should take if they're
interested in house hacking andwant to start today?
Lisa Moore (06:55):
Well, to house hack,
you do have to buy your own
property.
So the first step is going andfiguring out what you can get
approved for with a mortgage.
So find a local lender, or anylender, and talk to them.
Find out what you can getapproved on.
And now they're.
I think it was this past fall.
They passed a law where formulti-units so for two, three or
(07:18):
four unit properties you canbuy them with as little as 5%
down.
So that is a drop from 15, 20,25%, depending on the property,
from what it was.
So to be able to house hackwith a 5% down payment right
into a two, three or four unitis huge.
So you can go to a lender, findout what you're approved for
and talk to them about the factthat you're going to house hack.
(07:41):
I have my license here in Utahand I'm actually working with a
buyer right now who's looking tobuy a condo and she's going to
house hack.
You know, I have my licensehere in Utah and I'm actually
working with a buyer right nowwho's looking to buy a condo and
she's going to be house hackingthat.
So the lender is actuallyletting her use.
She's got a signed lease fromsomebody and they're actually
letting her use that income tohelp qualify.
So will every lender do that?
No, but if you're willing toput the time in to go around and
(08:04):
find a lender like, hey, I'mgoing to house hack, this is my
plan you will be able to find alender that will more than
likely let you use thatpotential income for your house
hack, so that will help you getapproved for even more of a
house.
So getting approved isdefinitely the first step.
Know how much house you canafford and then you can start
(08:24):
looking.
Joseph Marohn (08:26):
That's great
advice.
I know you talked a little bitabout your background, but I'm
interested to hear more aboutyour first house hacking
experience.
You mind sharing your story?
Lisa Moore (08:34):
Yeah.
So when I was looking for myfirst house, it was in 2017.
And I knew, like I said, I knewI was going to house hack it,
but I also couldn't afford, youknow, a five, six bed, four bath
house or anything like that.
So for me I was like looked at,I knew what I could afford, I
knew what I was comfortable with, payment wise and financially,
(08:58):
and so I went out and found ahouse that fit.
That Was it.
You know, it was a small house.
It was a two bed, one bath, 777square foot house.
So I was sharing a bathroomwith the people that were there
for Airbnb.
So was it ideal?
No, was it something that I'dwant to go back to?
No, but I'm glad that I did itbecause it got me started and
(09:20):
you start to get a taste of that, like I'm not really paying
that much for my housingexpenses anymore and to me it's
worth the sacrifice.
So I knew that I was going torent a bedroom and I wanted to
do it part time.
I didn't want to do a full timeroommate because I only had the
one extra bedroom and I knew myfamily was going to be coming
out when my mom came out mybrother, my friends.
(09:42):
I wanted to be able to blockoff that bedroom so then they
would be able to stay there, orif I just didn't want guests,
then I'd be able to block it off.
So doing the Airbnb was perfectfor me.
My goal was to generate atleast $300 a month bare minimum
and I far exceeded that everymonth.
(10:02):
Most of the time I was having toblock off dates because I, just
, like, was having people theretoo often or I couldn't switch
it, get it ready for the nextguest.
But I was just really lookingfor a property really where I
wanted to live and that had theaspects that I was looking for
in a house and knowing that ifit's a place that I want to live
(10:23):
, granted short of you being outin the complete sticks and not
near anything but within SaltLake City, I knew that wherever
I found a place, I was going tobe able to house hack and that
people were going to be willingto rent the bedroom.
So, yeah, just looking for ahouse that fit my budget and was
something that I wanted in anarea that I wanted to be, and
(10:43):
knowing that I'd be renting outone of those bedrooms.
Joseph Marohn (10:46):
So it's a short
term discomfort for a long term
gain right.
Lisa Moore (10:51):
Yep, yeah, I mean,
we did that for a few.
We lived in that house for afew years three years and it
generated us a lot of you know.
You know not hundreds ofthousands of dollars, but it
allowed me to be able to livefor very close to free.
So I could spend that moneyinvesting in other properties.
(11:13):
And we, you know, we saved up.
We actually added a apartmentin the basement and were able to
fix that house up.
It was a more just cosmeticfixes, but we were able to fix
that house up.
It was more just cosmetic fixes, but we were able to.
You know, I could put moneyinto that property and increase
its value and get it ready.
So when I moved out and rentedit, that money that I generated
(11:35):
from house hacking upgraded thathouse and made it even more
appealing.
So when it did come time for usto move out and rent it, I was
renting it for way more than Iwould have if I didn't do those
upgrades.
Joseph Marohn (11:46):
That's awesome.
You know, one of the biggestobjections I hear all the time
is well, I don't want to livenext to someone or possibly
share a wall with a strangerRight.
Lisa, what would you say tothat person to maybe help them
see it from a differentperspective?
Lisa Moore (11:59):
So short of you
owning your own single family
home?
You know and I do get this alot and I've had people that say
to me well, I wouldn't want torent my basement or I wouldn't
want to share space in my houseor share a wall with anyone, but
they're living in apartmentcomplexes.
You have people above you,below you and on both sides of
you.
You don't get to choose whothose people are, so short of
(12:29):
you being someone that's livingin your own single family house.
If you're renting an apartmentand you're like, well, I don't
want to share a wall withsomebody, you already are.
So if you're going to, or ifyou're already sharing a wall
with somebody, if you're alreadyhaving a deal with that, why
not do it in a place that youown and you get to choose who
that is?
You know our basement tenants.
We get to choose who lives downthere.
So if we meet somebody and havea place and we don't feel
comfortable with them or youknow they love to party on
Friday nights or they're big,you know they say they played
(12:52):
the drums or something no, wecan choose who's in there to
make sure it matches with us andour lifestyle.
So it's if you're willing tomake some sacrifices for a short
period of time, then to methat's well worth the benefits
that you get out of househacking and starting to build
that wealth.
My first house I bought for$200,000 in 2017, sold it in
(13:14):
2021 for $440,000.
Joseph Marohn (13:18):
Wow.
Lisa Moore (13:18):
So that's a huge and
granted, this was in Utah and
we had just sheer luck of themarket going crazy.
But we also improved it.
So we put a new kitchen and Idid new flooring, I painted it,
we did the entire yard.
You know, I landscaped theentire yard, added a shed, so I
did add value to it.
But just owning a property andhaving that equity, it may not
(13:42):
go up quite that fast butmajority of places you are going
to appreciate and you're goingto build that wealth and you're
going to have that equity thatyou can use down the road.
Joseph Marohn (13:52):
That's awesome.
A little bit of discomfort toearn 240K of equity.
I mean, who's going to complainabout that, right, yeah, I mean
, somebody might, but I mean I'msure as heck not going to be
doing that.
But on top of that, it doesn'tnecessarily have to be a single
family home.
Right, it could be a quadplex,be a duplex, triplex, whatever
you want to rent out, orwhatever you can afford at that
(14:14):
time you can make it work.
So do you think this can workif you have a family, or would
you say this strategy is moresuited for someone that's single
?
Lisa Moore (14:23):
It 100% can work for
anyone.
If you have a family, are yougoing to want to be renting a
bedroom to a stranger withlittle kids?
Probably not.
But you buy a place like ourcurrent home.
We have a basement apartment.
If we had kids, I would have noissue renting out our basement
because it's a completelyseparate unit so there is no
(14:44):
interior shared space.
They have their own entrancefrom the outside.
Yes, we see each other like anynormal neighbor when you're.
You know parking and stuff likethat, but we're not sharing any
space.
So even if you have a family oryou have kids, you can find
places that have in-lawapartments or they have an
apartment over the garage orsomething like that.
(15:04):
Or you buy a duplex or atriplex or a fourplex.
We've house hacked a triplexand we lived in one of the units
and rented out the other two.
So that's another avenue whereyou can easily buy a multifamily
and have that space.
Again, it's sort of just likehaving an apartment.
If you're living in an apartmentbuilding with kids, then you
(15:27):
can house hack your own propertyif you have a separate unit.
I definitely understand peoplenot wanting a bedroom rented to
a stranger if they have kids,but I have friends that they do
the same.
Their basement is a separateapartment and they've got two
kids upstairs and they rent thatout short-term rental and it
generates them a lot of incomeand allows them to just have
(15:51):
that money to either reinvestinto their property or into
something else.
So I don't think it matters ifyou have a family or not.
There's always a solution ifyou're willing to live in a
duplex or a triplex or afourplex or have a mother-in-law
apartment.
Joseph Marohn (16:06):
Right, and you
did mention income, so let's
talk a little bit about thefinancing for a house hacking
property.
Are there any specific loanproducts that may be best suited
for this strategy?
Lisa Moore (16:18):
House hacking is
becoming more popular and I've
definitely noticed as I talk tolenders and talking to other
investors.
Or, like the buyer I mentionedearlier, she was able to find a
lender that's letting her usethat potential income for
qualifying.
So I do think more lenders arestarting to allow that and
(16:39):
they're also looking at isthings are getting more
expensive.
It is harder to to afford ahome, um.
So I think a lot of lenders arestarting to loosen up on some
of the things.
Some of them they want to seethat you've been doing it for a
year or two.
Others you can your firstproperty.
They may start letting you usethat income.
They may not use a hundredpercent of it.
(17:00):
They may say, okay, yourpotential is a thousand dollars,
but we're going to use 700 or600.
That's still additional moneyto help you qualify.
So if you are looking to househack and you go to a lender and
they say you can't do that, tryanother lender.
There are so many lenders outthere and there's a lot of
investor-friendly lenders thatare out there.
(17:20):
Now that Can I guarantee youwould find one?
No, but I would be.
I would, with quite a bit ofconfidence, say if you contact
enough lenders, especiallyinvestor friendly lenders, you'd
be able to find someone thatwill allow you to use at least a
portion of that potentialincome that you'd get from house
hacking.
Joseph Marohn (17:40):
Right.
And then would you say it'skind of frowned upon with
lenders or like are you evenmentioning it when you're
getting a loan upon?
Lisa Moore (17:47):
with lenders or like
are you even mentioning it when
you're getting a loan?
We absolutely do the ones thatwe have house hacked and the
ones that we've done.
We absolutely mention it andtell them, like this is our plan
, this is the potential incomeand, like I said, my buyer she's
not a real estate investor,she's buying a condo and they're
letting her use that income tohelp qualify because she knows.
(18:07):
Telling them like this is whatI plan to do, so yes, absolutely
they, they will.
Again, if you find the rightlender, let you use that and
definitely tell your lender andbe upfront right away at the
lender, like I'm looking for alender that's going to allow me
to use the income from househacking.
Will you do that?
And that'll be your firstquestion with your lender.
(18:28):
If they say no, then thank you,move on to the next one, but
make that your first question.
If that is your plan, then makethat your first question with
the lender and find out ifthey'd allow it and if they do,
awesome, move forward.
If not, then you know you cango on to another lender.
We buying one of our properties.
We went through over a dozenlenders before we would find the
(18:49):
one that worked for thatproperty in that house hack
situation.
So it can take a while to finda lender, but it's well worth
the time spent for what it cansave you and what it can get you
.
Joseph Marohn (18:58):
Great advice.
What's the minimum amount ofmoney someone might need to
start house hacking?
Lisa Moore (19:08):
So that would depend
on if you're buying a two,
three or four unit property,there is the 5% down.
But if you're buying a singlefamily home, there are loan
programs out there that are 1%down, 3% down.
So if you're buying a $300,000house and you can get into
something that's a 1% downprogram, you'll be paying that
1% to 3,000 plus your closingcosts and you can also find a
(19:32):
lender that will give closingcredits.
So when I bought my first houseit was a couple thousand bucks
out of pocket because at thetime there was a loan program
first time home buyers it was.
I think it was a 1%, itmight've been 3% down, but then
they had lender credits thatwent towards my closing costs.
(19:52):
So for me out of pocket it wasvery little and there are still
programs out there that do that.
I know my buyer right now has aprogram similar and when you're
negotiating, when you're makingoffers on a house, put that
into your offer.
In the last few years duringCOVID, putting concessions into
your offer was not going tohappen.
It was kind of crazy.
(20:12):
But right now in Salt Lake atleast you can negotiate.
That you know you can put intoyour offer.
I want, if you're asking300,000 for property like I'll,
I'll pay you your asking, but Iwant 10,000 or 5,000 or 15,
whatever it is towards closingcosts.
So that's another way tosupplement your out of pocket is
by asking for concessions andasking for money towards closing
(20:34):
costs in your offer.
So make sure you get a goodrealtor that knows how to
negotiate those things too.
Joseph Marohn (20:40):
Excellent advice.
Excellent advice.
What kind of financial benefitscan one expect from house
hacking?
Lisa Moore (20:47):
I mean one, just the
saving money on your living
expenses.
Your living expenses aretypically going to be your most
expensive thing, most people.
You're spending a third to ahalf of your income on where you
live.
Absolutely so you can cut backon that.
Even if it's just half, that'sa huge, huge benefit.
(21:08):
So I mean, right off the bat,just being able to reduce your
living expenses is the numberone thing.
But then you're also buildingequity.
We have built equity in all ofour properties and our house tax
the current house that we livein.
Again, it was a completeremodel.
My husband's a GC.
(21:28):
The two of us gutted this house, redid it.
So, yes, we put a lot of sweatequity into it.
But even if you buy a turnkeyproperty again, every market's
different but odds are like it'sgoing to appreciate.
So, building that equity overtime.
And then you know, a few yearsdown the road, no, it may not be
(21:54):
$200,000, but you might be ableto take $20,000 out and even
$20,000 can help you get intoanother property.
So reducing your income orreducing your expenses and
helping build that equity.
Joseph Marohn (22:01):
Yeah, you know,
what's smart about it is that,
let's say you're used to payinganywhere from like a $2,500 to
$3,500 for rent.
You can buy a house, use an FHAloan only put three and a half
percent down, which is roughlywhat like $17,000, $18,000 for a
$500,000 home Then turn aroundand house hack that property and
(22:21):
cover most, if not all, yourmortgage.
You might even cashflow right.
So then what you do is pretendyou're still paying that $3,500
for rent by paying yourself andputting it into a savings
account.
Now you're essentially saving$30,000 to $42,000 a year.
It's crazy what you can do withhouse hacking.
Lisa Moore (22:39):
Yes, it's such a
powerful, powerful option within
real estate that I encourageeveryone I talk to if they're
looking to get into it or evenif they're already into it to
house hack.
It can be so valuable tobuilding your wealth and saving
money.
Joseph Marohn (22:56):
Not only that,
it's a good combination.
You mentioned that yourhusband's a GC.
I mean you're an investor GC.
That's a deadly combination,right it?
Lisa Moore (23:03):
is yeah, we are like
a little power couple with him
on the side.
My background is financialanalysis, so I'm all the numbers
and business side of things.
So it was a good meeting of him.
Joseph Marohn (23:16):
Well, you guys
are definitely doing the right
thing.
You make a good duo.
So what are your top tips forfinding a property that is ideal
for house hacking, especiallyfor those with limited
experience?
Lisa Moore (23:27):
So the first is
decide are you looking for a
property that you want to rentout the bedrooms in, or are you
looking for a property that youdon't want to have to share your
space and you want it to have aseparate unit?
So, whether that's buying aduplex, triplex or fourplex or
just a single family that has amother-in-law apartment.
So the first decision is do youwant to rent bedrooms or do you
(23:48):
want a separate unit to rent?
If you're looking to rentbedrooms, it's really, of course
.
I started with a two-bed,one-bath.
It would have been nice to havea second bathroom, but it still
worked.
But that's something to decideas well.
Are you willing to make thatsacrifice and share one bathroom
(24:08):
if that's all you can afford,or can you afford a house that
has two bed, two bath, or threebed, four baths?
So really figuring out how muchyou can afford again, but how
you want to rent it, and thenfinding a house that fits that
Like if you don't want to sharea bathroom, I can get that find
a house that may have twobathrooms.
You know the house that we'rein now.
(24:29):
If we wanted to house hack, itwould be good because we have
our own master bathroom and thenthe our second bedroom has, you
know, has a bathroom as well.
If we wanted to house hack eventhe unit we live in, but that's
to me the biggest thing do youwant to share space or do you
want your own separate unit?
And then from there it's justdeciding where you want to live,
how many bathrooms you want tohave.
(24:50):
It really is any house, in myopinion, can work as a house
hack.
It's just what are yourrequirements and what are you
really looking to do with thehouse hacking?
Joseph Marohn (25:01):
Are you still
house hacking now?
Do you house hack the propertyyou're in?
Lisa Moore (25:04):
We do so we.
When we bought this, wespecifically bought it because
we could build out the basement.
It already had a bathroom, onebathroom in the basement.
It supposedly had a kitchen itwas a little bit of a stretch
advertising as a kitchen it hadlike one.
It actually had two rooms thathad kitchen cabinets in it, but
that was it.
No water, no, nothing,literally just cabinets sitting
(25:26):
against a wall.
That was it.
No water, no, nothing,literally just cabinets sitting
against a wall.
But we built that out into atwo bed, two bath apartment.
So we rent out our basementcurrently and still still house
hack.
So it's hard to stop when youlive for like a couple hundred
bucks.
We do want to buy a new housenow that we're both working from
home.
We do need more space and weboth need our offices.
We're making it work with wherewe are because this is where we
(25:49):
are and it's our only option.
But we would like to getanother house that's bigger, but
it's we think about.
Ideally, we wouldn't house hackthe next one, but it's also.
When you look at living for acouple hundred bucks a month,
it's like, oh man, it's kind ofhard to give up house hacking
once you get a taste of it andyou live for so cheaply.
Joseph Marohn (26:09):
I think once you
get introduced to it and you see
how it works for you, it's hardto see it any other way.
Now, right, it's like everytime you look at a property, I
bet you're looking for thoseaspects where you can implement
it into a house.
Hacking property, yeah.
Lisa Moore (26:21):
Even though we're
like we prefer not to share any
space.
We are actually looked at aproperty and it had like an
outdoor area and we're like, oh,we could build an ADU back here
so we could still house hack,put up a fence.
It would be like just anynormal neighbor but not have to
share any walls.
So, yeah, any place we lookedat, we're immediately like how
can we generate income from thisproperty?
Joseph Marohn (26:43):
Right, and I
think the ideal situation if
privacy kind of is your biggestconcern is having, like, maybe,
a front house and a back housewith a long driveway, whereas
you know you have a gate and younever really see that person
right Besides them coming in andout of the driveway.
So I think that's a goodsituation right there as well.
Lisa Moore (27:02):
And we owned a
property that was just like that
.
It was the one lot, but it wastwo separate houses and so there
was no shared space.
We didn't we didn't house hackthat one.
That one was just an investment.
But for something that waslooking to house hack like to me
, that was such a perfectproperty because of that it was.
You basically had your ownhouse and it was a good size lot
(27:24):
.
So that other house.
You still had your own yard.
There was a good size lot, sothat other house.
You still had your own yard.
There was a fence.
It was just like any otherneighbor and any neighborhood
where you've got houses.
So that's definitely the idealto find something like that.
Joseph Marohn (27:37):
So, as you know,
there are some states that some
investors typically stay awayfrom, like New York and
California, due to their verystrict rental control laws.
Are there any markets wherehouse hacking wouldn't work as
well, and what are some keyfactors to consider when
choosing California due to theirvery strict rental control laws
?
Are there any markets wherehouse hacking wouldn't work as
well, and what are some keyfactors to consider when
choosing a location?
Lisa Moore (27:54):
So I'm sure,
obviously I'm not familiar with
every market, but I know that insome areas in Utah, like
technically, you're not supposedto have more than a certain
amount of people living in thehouse, and so there are
definitely some areas that mayhave those restrictions,
depending on the law.
(28:15):
We often are in the, you know,go for it and ask for
forgiveness if something happens, like my husband.
The first, one of the firstproperties he bought it was a
duplex.
It was two separate entrances,like it looked like it was built
as a duplex.
Even to this day we're like Idon't know where this would have
had an interior staircasewithout major structural changes
(28:35):
, like separate meters,everything.
And he bought it and then yearsdown the road, somehow it came
up.
Oh, he was trying to get aHELOC against it and it came up
that it wasn't a legal duplex.
And they came in.
They're like, well, you can'tbe renting like this.
You can't, you can't rent it.
And he's like can I haveroommates?
They're like you can haveroommates, but they can't pay
you rent, but they can help youpay for your expenses, which is
(28:59):
basically the same thing.
So, he's like okay, I'm notrenting it, I just have
roommates that help me pay formy expenses.
And they're like, okay, that'sfine.
So in some situations there canbe a fairly easy workaround,
but again, like that's, if youdon't know the laws, you can
research them and find out.
Most of the time, though, househacking short of you having
(29:22):
five, six, seven people there,it's just kind of chaos and your
streets always filled with cars, the odds of a place not
allowing it.
Normally you can always have afew people living there.
From our experience in marketsthat we've been in, at least,
and looking at a market to me,if you're wanting to live there,
then somebody else is.
So I don't think so.
(29:44):
House hacking is something thatyou have to be really strategic
on.
Market-wise, it's not like okay, if I want to invest in mobile
home parks, well, you can't justinvest anywhere.
You have to invest where thereis either mobile home parks for
you to buy or there is thedemand for that.
So there are some things thatare going to be a little more
(30:04):
strategic, in my opinion, househacking.
Most people are going to live inareas that other people want to
live, again, short of youliving in the middle of nowhere,
but otherwise the odds of younot being able to house hack
where you're located, in myopinion, is pretty slim.
So for me it was where do wewant to live?
What do we want out of thehouse?
(30:26):
It's buying something that wewant in an area that we want to
be, and we've never had an issuerenting out any of the house
hacks.
And there's been, I think, sixproperties that we've house
hacked between the two of us andnever had an issue finding
anyone, whether it was just abedroom or whether it was
another unit.
We always found tenants.
Joseph Marohn (30:46):
Yeah, and see,
I'm actually from California and
it's like you know, rent hereand mortgages here and house
prices is just extremely throughthe roof.
So it's almost like you have toget creative and we're seeing
it all the time now with a lotof people are, you know, they're
adding ADUs to their backyardsand you really have to get
strategic, like getting in aduplex, maybe renting out to a
(31:06):
family member.
You really have to like thinkoutside the box to survive out
here because the prices are alot different compared to like
the Midwest and you know asother states, where you know
it's a lot cheaper and cost ofliving.
Lisa Moore (31:20):
Yeah, yeah, utah is
not quite as expensive as
California, but we're I feellike we're we're chasing after
you in that regard pretty hardright now and I feel like it was
always.
You know they talk about itused to be so much easier and in
some regards, yes, you knowthere are aspects that it may
have been easier to purchase ahouse 10, 15, 20, 30 years ago.
(31:43):
But I was talking to a friendwho bought a house 25, 30 years
ago and she's like didn't evendawn on me until talking to you.
She goes, I house hacked, shegoes, and that's how I afforded
a house and this was 25, 30years ago.
So I think it's always you talkto anyone when they buy a
property and odds are, no matterhow long ago it was.
They probably felt like it wasa stretch to buy it and they
(32:05):
were a little worried Is itgoing to work?
It seems expensive, things likethat.
And then you look back, youfast forward 10 years and look
back and when you bought it andyou're like, man, I got to steal
for that place.
So if you can buy something andfind a way to be able to house
hack it and make it affordable.
I definitely think that is sovaluable and I think that it's
(32:28):
always been difficult to findand afford a property.
Different aspects now make itdifficult in different ways, but
interest rates really aren'tthat high.
You look at them historicallyand we're kind of right in with
average historical rates andthings like that.
So I think if you're willing toput the time in and you're
willing to dedicate and kind ofmake those sacrifices, you can
(32:49):
definitely find something inyour area.
It may not be the five bed,four bath.
You know giant, beautiful housethat you want to live in that's
brand new.
But if you're willing to livein you know a smaller property
for for a time being, it's agreat way to get started being.
Joseph Marohn (33:08):
It's a great way
to get started.
You know, what's funny about itis that somebody is going to be
listening into this episode andthey're not.
They're going to realize thatthey were probably already doing
house hacking and not evenrealizing it, right?
You know, it's like.
It's like a real estatestrategy that people do all the
time without even knowingthey're actually doing a real
estate strategy.
Lisa Moore (33:23):
Yep, exactly,
they're like oh wait, I did that
, or I was.
You know, I rented a bedroomfrom someone, or something like
that, and yeah.
Joseph Marohn (33:31):
Right, and so you
know we did talk about you know
you don't only have to use asingle family home, but let's
say you know you are a firsttime house hacker.
What would you recommendrenting out Would?
Lisa Moore (33:47):
you recommend
renting out individual rooms to
start out or separate units in amultifamily property.
I don't think one or the otheris better or worse.
I think it's just figuring outwhat works for you and what you
can afford if you're in an area.
If I could go back and startinvesting whether it was when I
first started, back in 2017, orgo back to when I was right out
of college I personally wouldhave tried to get into a
(34:10):
multifamily.
I would have tried to buy aduplex, triplex, ideally a
fourplex, just to be buying alarger asset and knowing that
that was going to grow more, andthen be able to move out of
that every year or two and buyanother one.
But I don't.
I wouldn't say that, startingwith a single family, I guess
(34:31):
benefits of both.
If you do a single family andyou're renting bedrooms, you're
going to be the one managing it.
You're going to be the onedealing with tenants, you're
going to be the one that has tohandle all of that.
If you don't want to do that, ifyou have a separate unit or you
buy a duplex, triplex, fourplex, you can hire a property
manager and if you're in amultifamily you may not even
(34:54):
talk to your neighbors.
But if you do, you don't haveto tell them that you own that
property.
You're just another renter Ifyou don't want them to know that
you're the owner.
So if they have an issue theystart coming to you.
You just, yeah, this is theproperty management company and
yeah, yeah, that's that's whohandles everything.
You don't have to tell themthat you live there.
So if you really don't want todeal with tenants and have that,
(35:14):
looking for a multi-familymight be your best bet and then
just have that other unitsproperty managed and you never
have to tell anyone that you'rethe owner and they'll never know
, and you can just live therelike it's any other apartment
that you're just a tenant in andnot have to deal with anything.
Joseph Marohn (35:31):
Right.
I wish I would have known aboutthis when I was younger and
started earlier.
When you like you said earlier,it's like when you look at your
biggest expense, without adoubt it's that monthly mortgage
payment.
Right.
If you can save that and put ittowards other investments,
you're absolutely winning.
Lisa Moore (35:47):
save that and put it
towards other investments,
you're absolutely winning.
Yeah, I know, I think if you goback and have at like 22, you
are able to buy your firstproperty with a 1% down and
lower your expenses by househacking and, every year or two,
move out.
By the time you're 30, early30s, you could own three, four,
five properties from saving uplike that money.
(36:09):
Instead of you paying that rentto an apartment building,
you're paying it to yourself tosave up for your next one and
buying that.
It's like man.
You could have three, four,five properties by the time
you're 30, early 30s.
And now you're renting allthose other ones.
And keep in mind they all willhave the primary residence
financing, which is going to getyou lower interest rates as
(36:30):
well.
Joseph Marohn (36:30):
So Exactly, you
know you.
You did mention earlier about,you know, landlords and property
managers.
For those that don't have muchexperience, or any experience at
all being a landlord, how doyou balance living in your own
home while also managing it as arental property?
Lisa Moore (36:48):
So that can
definitely be a learning curve.
You know, I had no experiencewhen I started and it was just
like, well, we'll figure it outalong the way.
And you know, and now there's somany resources so you can read
about it.
You can listen to podcasts,bigger pockets and things like
that to find out how to be alandlord or go to local meetups.
(37:11):
But it is definitely somethingthat when you are looking at
something to keep in mind.
Like I said, if you have zerodesire to do that, maybe buy a
multifamily, but if you'rewilling to learn how to do that,
I also think it's really goodbecause now that we are more
heavily into investing and wehave property managers, having
that experience of knowing howto manage my properties, how to
(37:36):
deal with tenants, how theleases work, all of that little
intricate details that youreally don't learn unless if you
do it.
So now that we have a propertymanager, I know what to look for
.
I know the signs of somethingdoesn't seem right or there's
issues or whatever.
So if you do plan to like,build and grow and even if
you're like I, have zero desireto be a full-time landlord the
(37:59):
rest of my life, I still thinkit's really valuable to to learn
and are you going to makemistakes Of course, you're never
going to stop making mistakesbut to learn how to do it and
with so many resources now.
I actually think it's.
It's really good to have thatexperience.
So as you do grow, you'll knowwhat to look for when you're
looking at a property manager.
(38:19):
If you're investing in asyndication, you have an idea of
how it works.
So if somebody's sayingsomething you're like that
doesn't really seem right onmanaging a property or whatever
it may be, it just gives youthat knowledge and that
experience that, to me, is sovaluable.
Joseph Marohn (38:34):
Yeah, you know
what?
I think a lot of people want toget into investing and they're
just so risk adverse, you know,and they're always like I got to
know everything before I getstarted.
Like you just mentioned,there's nothing wrong with going
and making a mistake.
Sometimes you got to makemistakes to learn from them and
learn how to overcome that.
And what better way to startout in real estate investing
(38:55):
than house hacking, right?
House hacking is a great way toget started.
So good point right there.
How are you advertising yourrental spaces?
Are you using AirDNA?
Are you using social media?
Lisa Moore (39:05):
So now we do just
long-term rentals.
We dabbled in the short-termspace.
That is not for me.
I'm one that fully I acceptwhat I'm good at and what I'm
not good at, and short-termrentals, just not something.
We do want to buy a couple.
We want to get one in Hawaiiand one in Wyoming and I will
gladly pay whatever it costs tohave somebody else fully manage
(39:28):
it.
So we focus just on long termtenants and we yeah, I mean
we've post on Zillow Facebook.
Here in Utah there's a websitecalled KSL, sort of like a
Craigslist, but more local, justthose different avenues.
And for us we've also beenreally lucky that we've really
(40:02):
prided ourselves when we weremanaging on being really good
landlords and having space thatpeople want to.
Else in that building is like,hey, I have a friend that's
looking for a place and I knowthat so-and-so is moving out and
you know, can you, can you holdoff and see if this person's a
good fit?
Or tenants that used to livewith us that moved into other
places, then call us and are hey, I'm looking for a place again.
(40:24):
Do you guys have anythingavailable?
So there's been quite a fewtimes where we've never even had
to advertise because we eitherhad somebody referring friends
to us or we had prior tenantscalling us back looking for a
unit.
But if you don't have that andyou're getting started the
Zillows, the Facebooks,craigslist places like that and
(40:45):
you can use Zillow.
So if you use Zillow, you canpost your property on there and
Zillow can do background andcredit checks for you.
So somebody applies, you cantell them go onto the Zillow and
do the credit background check.
They pay for it.
Nothing comes out of yourpocket.
Then you just get an email andit's in your Zillow profile area
(41:08):
that will show okay, so-and-sohas submitted their credit and
background check.
So you can make sure that whoyou're renting to they have good
credit, or you at least know ifthey don't have good credit and
you can do additional researchand if they have a criminal
record and what their backgroundis.
So Zillow is a really goodresource for that, just to be
able to kind of do everything inone spot, be able to post your
(41:28):
listing as well as have them gothere and get that credit and
background check so you can havea little more information on
who you're looking to rent to.
Joseph Marohn (41:37):
So was it the
turnover rate that you didn't
like so much about short-termrentals.
Lisa Moore (41:44):
Yeah, I mean just
always.
It's to me it was a very I meanit is, it's very active, it's
hospitality.
So you're just if you havesomebody you know checking out
this morning and somebodychecking in this afternoon, like
you need to have your teams inplace.
You're cleaning all of thatstuff.
When I was renting a bedroom inmy house way easier Like I keep
(42:05):
my house clean I didn't have toworry about like flipping an
entire house.
I just needed to make sure thatthere is a new set of sheets,
and that was super easy as soonas it involved us having to
travel to a property and Iwasn't even working at the time
in 2018.
Um, I the job that I was at.
I quit the job.
We didn't.
I didn't work for six months.
We did a road trip for a couplemonths and when we got back it
(42:28):
was the beginning of November.
I didn't want to start lookingfor a job because it was holiday
season.
I said I'm not going to startworking now.
So I'm like I'll push this offand wait until the new year.
And we had somebody move outand we heard so much hey, you
can make so much more withAirbnb.
So with me not working.
We said this is the perfecttime to try it.
I've got the time to do it.
(42:48):
We have a property thatsomebody is just moving out of
like let's give it a whirl.
And yeah, I did not enjoy.
I did not enjoy the constantactive and the cleaning up after
people and just having to justthe communication all the time.
And you really do have to kindof always be available if you're
(43:09):
the one that's managing it andwith our, the way we are in our
lifestyle and our traveling.
We're big outdoors people, sowe're out in the woods and in
the mountains with no service,quite a lot, and that just
doesn't work.
If you're managing Airbnbs,long-term rentals it's not as
big of a deal.
If we put a place up and we'reout of service for two days,
(43:30):
we'll get it when we get back.
But for short term rental, Imean, you're needing to respond
quickly and be be available atall times.
So I would.
I am definitely someone whowill gladly pay the large fee to
have somebody else manage anyshort term rental I ever buy.
Joseph Marohn (43:48):
You're like let
me get lost in the woods and
don't bother me, right yeah?
Lisa Moore (43:52):
Yeah.
Joseph Marohn (43:54):
So what are some
of the risks associated with
house hacking and how can wemitigate those risks?
Lisa Moore (44:00):
The tenants, just
making sure you screen your
tenants really well.
Like I said, there are a lot ofresources out there.
Now you can use Zillow to get abackground check and a credit
check and talking with otherlandlords and other investors,
and you can even hire people.
Like, if you're reallyconcerned with how you can fill
someone, how you can fill avacancy, you can hire property
(44:24):
managers just to fill a unit.
If it's a bedroom.
You might have a little bit ofa hard time, but you can at
least talk to propertymanagement companies.
Will everyone talk to you?
Maybe not, but if you callaround and ask or just start
going to investor meetups, findreal estate meetups in your area
and just start talking topeople and like, hey, what do
(44:44):
you do to screen your tenants?
That is definitely the biggestthing is making sure you screen
your tenants well.
And if you're going to sharespace, so if you're going to
rent just a bedroom and you needto make sure you set your
boundaries at the beginning,whether that's short-term
rentals or long-term making surethat you you know to the extent
(45:05):
of having signs up of don'tleave dishes in the sink, clean
your stuff, put it in thedishwasher, whatever it may be,
and even assigning, if you wantto get really not have to worry
about whose food is this andwhose cabin.
Is this in your fridge.
Mark your.
Mark your shelves.
This is room one.
This is room two.
This is room three.
(45:26):
Do the same with your cabinets.
So if somebody comes andwhether they're staying there
for a few days, a few weeks orthey're a long-term tenant, like
anything in the shelf belongsto room one.
Nobody like this is your space,so you know that anything you
put there is yours, same withthe cabinets and stuff like that
.
It sounds like it might beoverkill, but knowing that this
is somebody's space and whateveris in here belongs to them, it
(45:49):
really does help alleviate a lotof potential issues and it
makes people like they know that, okay, I'm not going to come
home and the fridge is going tobe packed full and I just bought
$50 worth of groceries and nowthere's no room in the grocery,
in the fridge, for me to put anyof my stuff because the fridge
is full.
Put any of my stuff because thefridge is full If you always
know how much space you have inyour drawer, in your cabinet, so
(46:10):
you can plan ahead and makesure you're uh stay in your
finger space.
Joseph Marohn (46:16):
I don't know
where you're shopping, Lisa, but
$50 of groceries doesn't getyou much these days.
Lisa Moore (46:21):
No, it doesn't.
It doesn't.
That would be like maybe a fewdays worth of groceries.
Joseph Marohn (46:25):
No, but it's a
good point though, and hopefully
that's a great advice andhopefully people respect your
space.
If you're doing those shelvesthings idea, make sure they're
really respecting your space.
So can you discuss any legalconsiderations or maybe even
challenges that might arise withtenants?
Lisa Moore (46:45):
I mean tenants in
general.
There's always, you know thethe big thing, obviously making
sure you're not discriminatedagainst to you rent to in Utah
and my guess is other states aresimilar to this, but at least
in Utah, when somebody appliesto one of our apartments, we
(47:09):
don't pick and choose who thatis.
So we have our requirements.
Okay, you have to have a creditscore above 650.
If you don't, then we needreferences from prior landlords.
You need two and a half X yourincome.
So, like, we have setrequirements on what people have
to hit and it's a first come,first serve.
So whoever applies that orderof applications, we just go
(47:33):
through.
Do you meet all therequirements?
Yes, okay, then we, you knowwe'll move forward with getting
background checks and interviewand things like that.
So, making sure that you'refollowing any guidelines and any
rules and regulations locally.
If you're house hacking, it'sthe only property you own.
They typically are a littlelooser on things because it is
(47:54):
your own house, like dogs, pets,you know we can't say no to
service animals.
If you're house hacking andyou're allergic to a cat or a
dog, you can deny that becauseit's within your house and you
can't have somebody living therethat you know you're allergic
to the pet that they're bringingin.
So you do have normally some alittle more leeway when it's
(48:16):
your own property and your househacking.
But tenants you definitelyobviously making sure you don't
discriminate and making sure youtake care of your property and
you're not opening yourself upto any legal things.
You know making sure it's safe,making sure you have smoke
detectors Although so manytenants take down the smoke
detectors or take the batteriesout of them when we go and do
(48:38):
checks and we're like smokedetector I know this was working
when we had you move in, butjust making sure you're doing
those safety checks and thingslike that.
So there's nothing that, if godforbid something was to happen,
you know there's no smokedetector, there's not a fire
extinguisher or whatever it maybe.
So just making sure that yousupply safe places to live
(49:04):
definitely will help.
But also putting yourproperties into an LLC will give
you an added layer ofprotection as well.
Joseph Marohn (49:10):
I love that you
brought that up.
Good advice, good advice howcan house hacking fit into a
long-term real estate investmentstrategy?
Lisa Moore (49:21):
I mean that's been
our biggest really helped us get
to where we are.
We house hacked.
With that first property that Ibought, as I said, we made over
$200,000.
We sold that.
We bought a triplex.
We have been pulling equity outof the properties that we have
(49:42):
to buy more assets.
We have a fourplex that themoney from another property
partial another property, alsopartial private money lender but
a good portion of that in therehab came from another property
that we pulled equity out of.
We've pulled HELOCs out againstour properties.
We've done cash out refinancesagainst our properties.
We've sold properties.
(50:03):
So, even if you're house hacking, even if it's only single
families when people say I onlyown a single family or I just
own this, I'm always like cutthose words out, no only and no,
just like you own that.
Those will build equity.
And even if it's, like I said,20, 30,000, well that 20, 30,000
could be a down payment, thatcould be a rehab on a property
that you have or that youpartner on with somebody.
(50:26):
So just owning those propertiesand building that equity has
helped us immensely buy more andinvest in more and be able to
do our rehabs, add units, addbedrooms, add bathrooms, add
value to our properties.
So it's helped us immensely andit's definitely something that
you know.
(50:46):
I just look at the propertiesthat we own now and even if we
stop house hacking in our nextproperty all the houses that we
still own that we've househacked as we sell those, as we
pull equity out.
All of that is going to bebecause we are willing to house
hack and trade those up intolarger properties and just keep
getting us larger assets thatare going to generate more
(51:06):
income for us.
Joseph Marohn (51:08):
Right, I don't
think you're going to stop, lisa
.
I think it's like once you doit, like we said earlier, you
just can't see any other way.
You just want to keep doing itover and over again.
Lisa Moore (51:17):
It becomes an
addiction to a point.
Joseph Marohn (51:20):
So what is the
best advice you would give to
someone just starting out inhouse hacking?
Lisa Moore (51:29):
Don't be afraid to
like if you're debating, doing
it like, don't be afraid to doit, like, just give it a try.
Make sure you screen yourtenants.
That's probably really thebiggest thing is making sure
you're screening your tenants.
And that's probably really thebiggest thing is making sure
you're screening your tenantsand screening them well.
The people that we've met thathad bad experiences or don't
want to do it again, it'sbecause they didn't screen their
tenants or they let a friendmove in, they let a family
(51:53):
member move in.
And it's really hard for a lotof people to set boundaries with
people that they know theirfriends, their family.
Somebody's not paying rent,Like, oh, I'll get you next week
, Don't like, it's okay, Don'tworry about it, I'll pay you
next week.
And if you cannot say to thatperson like no, your rent is due
on the first, you pay it on thefirst or you'll be getting
(52:13):
notice on whatever day, thethird, the fifth, whatever's in
the lease.
So if you aren't someone thatcan set those boundaries, don't
rent to friends and family.
For a lot of people it's easierto set boundaries with people
they don't know than it is withfriends and family.
And friends and family can tendto not necessarily on purpose
try and like take advantage ofyou, but just feel like it's a
(52:37):
more casual relationship and nottake it as seriously as they
should.
When it's like this is thempaying their rent Like they
wouldn't do that to anotherlandlord, they shouldn't do it
to you.
So making sure you haveboundaries and making sure you
screen your tenants, I thinkwhen you're going to do some
house hacking, are probably twoof the biggest things.
Joseph Marohn (52:57):
Oh, Lisa, you got
18 doors.
You got it.
You could spot me this month.
Lisa Moore (53:01):
Exactly.
Joseph Marohn (53:04):
All right.
So any new goals you set forthe year?
What's 2024 look like for Lisa?
Lisa Moore (53:09):
So 2024 for us.
So we are really looking to buysome larger properties.
We are looking to buy up to 50unit assets here in Utah.
We really want to look for thatgeneration, the 60, 70, 80 year
olds, that boomer generationthat is looking to retire,
looking to enjoy life and nothave to deal with being
(53:31):
landlords.
As many people listening may ormay not know that generation,
the amount of wealth that thatgeneration has through
properties and businesses thatthey are going to be passing
along, whether that's to familyor selling, is huge.
So we really want to find a wayto tap into that generation and
find those people that ownproperties.
(53:52):
You know we'd love to buy 50doors this year in utah from
that demographic.
Be great to buy them withseller finance or creative
finance, but it doesn't have tobe.
Um.
Some other goals I've wantingto be on podcast.
The goal is to be on 24podcasts this year.
I didn't intentionally do it,as 24 podcasts in 2024 didn't
(54:16):
even dial it my husband was like, oh, 24 and 24 and 24.
I was like, oh, I was justthinking, two a month for the
year, um, so being on podcastsand then doing more speaking.
I'm the VP of the Utah RIA, soI've had the opportunity to
start hosting some panels andspeaking and I've really, really
enjoyed it.
So I'm looking to do fivespeaking engagements this year.
So anyone out there, if you'relooking for anyone to come speak
(54:38):
at any of your meetups, I amwilling to travel.
We'd love to travel.
So an excuse to go somewhere isdoesn't take much for us to to
have an excuse to go travelsomewhere.
Joseph Marohn (54:47):
So if you do meet
up we're always looking for
excuse to travel, right yeah.
Lisa Moore (54:53):
So yeah.
So if you host a meetup oranything like that and you're
looking for speakers, I'd loveto come.
Definitely hit me up and youcan talk about it.
Joseph Marohn (55:01):
That's some great
goals you got there.
You're really setting the barhigh.
I love it.
Yes.
So one of the things that Ilike to do is give the community
a voice as well in thesepodcasts.
So typically I'll drop a postexplaining the topic we're
currently covering and I'll askif anyone has any questions they
would like addressed.
The covering and I'll ask ifanyone has any questions they
would like addressed.
The question I chose today isby Romario Budai, and his
(55:22):
question was I would love to subto my first house hack.
Is that possible?
What's your response to that?
Lisa Moore (55:29):
Absolutely.
The creative finance right nowis you know such such a popular
thing because interest rates aresignificantly higher than they
have been the last several yearsand you can absolutely house
hack something you buy sub two.
You know those are kind of twoseparate things.
How you acquire the house andwhat that financing looks like
(55:51):
really has nothing to do withwhat you plan.
You know whether you plan tohouse hack or not.
So you can absolutely find ahouse that you purchased sub to,
you own that and you have thatasset and now you can house hack
.
So you can absolutely househack something that you
purchased subject to or sellerfinance.
However you acquire it, you canhouse hack it.
Joseph Marohn (56:10):
Yeah, absolutely.
I think it's an excellentstrategy, right, Because then
now you're basically you'repurchasing the property, you, if
you do it right, you canbasically get the property no
money out of pocket, Right.
And now you're renting theproperty out and you're you're
house hacking it and it'sessentially, you know it's
covering your mortgage on thereand you.
It's just a win-win situation.
(56:31):
So I think it was a greatquestion.
I know some people may not befamiliar with, but you know, sub
two is just a way of purchasingthe property itself, and what
you do with it after that iscompletely up to you.
Yep, so I think we covered mostof the basics and the
groundwork on how to get startedwith your first house hacking
property.
Is there anything you can thinkof that we might've missed and
(56:52):
didn't cover here today?
Lisa Moore (56:56):
Nothing that I can
think of.
I'm sure as soon as we're we'refinished here, I'll be like, oh
, I should have brought up this.
But uh yeah, nothing I can thinkof at the moment.
We did cover, cover a lot ofthe the main points and details
with house hacking.
So, oh, something I do getasked actually is who's
responsible for yard work,cleaning, maintaining,
(57:17):
maintaining the house, thingslike that.
And if it's, if it's a singlefamily home that you're renting
out bedrooms, typically I'lljust, you know, communicate with
the people, like they'reobviously responsible for their
own space but making surethey're cleaning up after
themselves.
If people are sharing a bathroom, sometimes it's not a bad idea
(57:37):
to have a cleaner come in everycouple of weeks just to clean
the kitchen and clean the sharedspaces.
I've heard a lot of investorsdoing that, just for the couple
hundred bucks a month it costsjust knowing that the spaces are
getting clean.
There's no disagreements onwho's supposed to clean it,
things like that.
If it's you and one otherperson, it's a lot easier.
(57:58):
Like you're doing it this week,I'm doing it this week.
And then, as far as yard work,I will say never believe a
tenant that says that they enjoyyard work, even if they really
are convincing about it.
It's a rare tenant that willactually maintain a yard.
So do not house hack with theexpectation that your tenants
are going to maintain your yard.
(58:19):
So if you care about what youryard looks like and it will be
shared space expect that youwill be the one maintaining that
yard, for sure.
Joseph Marohn (58:28):
Excellent advice,
Lisa.
Where can people get a hold ofyou?
Lisa Moore (58:32):
Instagram is
probably the best place.
My Instagram is more doors withLisa.
You'll see our logo in myprofile pictures, so you'll know
that it's me.
Shoot me a DM there.
I'm always posting on Instagramand trying to share as much
information and helpful thingson there as possible.
Facebook is another onelisafieldmore.
(58:53):
Again, you'll see our companylogo on there, so you'll know
it's me.
But, yeah, those two are thebest places, so feel free to
reach out, DM, comment on any ofmy posts, give me a follow.
Love to chat with anyone that'sout there that's got questions.
Joseph Marohn (59:08):
Right, and we'll
make sure we plug all those tags
in on this video right here sothat way people can locate you
easier.
So well, awesome.
Well, lisa, you've been avaluable asset here on the
podcast today.
I'm sure everyone listening inis going to find a ton of value
from what you just shared withus.
You're extremely knowledgeablein this space.
You're absolutely crushing it,and I think I speak for everyone
(59:30):
when I say that we're allexcited to see what else you're
able to accomplish in 2024.
So, thank you.
Lisa Moore (59:36):
Thank you.
It's going to be a good year,so looking forward to it.
Joseph Marohn (59:39):
Now, if you guys
are finding value from this
podcast, don't forget to showyour boys some love.
Literally, it only takes a fewseconds to click subscribe.
Don't forget to like this anddrop a comment down below what
you guys learned today abouthouse hacking.
I appreciate all the continuedsupport and guys stay tuned
because we're pumping theseepisodes out every two weeks.
I got some big plans for thechannel this year and I don't
(01:00:02):
want you guys to miss out.
Best believe i'ma keep bringingyou guys that fire.
Thank you, lisa thank you,joseph.
Lisa Moore (01:00:09):
Thanks for watching.