Neutral Cash Flow!

[BlairClarke]

Hey everyone! ive got a question to ask. Ive been looking at this brand new two storey home as an investment property. Now....if I bought the house my plans were to live in the upstairs and rent out the basement to 3 university students. I crunched the numbers and I would have a neutral cash flow at the end of each month. I relize that the goal is to have a positive cash flow but hear me out. If I were to live up stairs for a year or two years without hardly a single expense, I could invest in an another home after two years and then rent out the upstairs of that two storey house. My girlfriend and I both have good jobs and would be able to save a great deal of money in two years. This would be a very nice positve cash flow once the whole house was rented out. Im pondering the whole idea and Im looking for feedback from each and everyone of you. Id like to hear if anyone else out there is currently doing this. Good or Bad, let me know!!

 

[Thomas Beyer]

QUOTE (HydroHead @ Oct 28 2009, 03:52 PM)
Hey everyone! ive got a question to ask. Ive been looking at this brand new two storey home as an investment property. Now....if I bought the house my plans were to live in the upstairs and rent out the basement to 3 university students. I crunched the numbers and I would have a neutral cash flow at the end of each month. ..


great idea !



re-phrase "neutral cash-flow" to "I will live for free" .. and you know it makes sense .. provided:

a) you like to live in that area

b) that area has upside due to in-migration or transportation improvements or general increased attractiveness

c) you don't mind having three "strangers" in your house

d) the place is big enough for you, and

e) you did not pay too much for the property, i.e. it is fairly valued !



Good first step .. congratulations !! Onto the next one !



related posts:



5 ways to make money
..My girlfriend and I both have good jobs and would be able to save a great deal of money in two years. ...




That IS a concern .. why not get married ? Potential breakups are very costly emotionally .. and likely financially if ownership is unclear or the house has to be sold to cash out !

 

[BlairClarke]

Thanks you for your reply

 

[tbarcier]

Hey….um......HydroHead, if that is your real name. I am doing this currently, by renting out my basement apt. The rent is enough to cover mort, taxes and insurance and I pay the utilities. . I live with my girlfriend as well. I don`t mind having people living under me however she doesn’t like it at all. The fact that it costs us only 200 bucks to live in a nice 3 bedroom place is the only reason she puts up with it. Now I have been a renter for many years prior and this is her first time not living with her parents sooooo I guess for us it’s both good and bad depending. P.S. we are shopping for a new home too, gotta keep her happy.

 

[Thomas Beyer]

QUOTE (tbarcier @ Oct 29 2009, 04:54 AM)
.. P.S. we are shopping for a new home too, gotta keep her happy.


go shopping for a ring, too ..

 

[RedlineBrett]

QUOTE (thomasbeyer2000 @ Oct 29 2009, 11:00 AM)
go shopping for a ring, too ..




Let her shop for it... she'll know what she wants. Gonna be $$ for you either way might as well get her the look she's been dreaming of.

 

[tbarcier]

Haha, Thomas....really pushing the ol` get hitched thing eh. Well I tell ya, I`m not doing it! Nope no way never. Well at least until she says I have too.

 

[invst4profit]

QUOTE (barcier @ Oct 29 2009, 01:09 PM) Haha, Thomas....really pushing the old` get hitched thing eh. Well I tell ya, I`m not doing it! Nope no way never. Well at least until she says I have too.

If I am not mistaken, married or not, after living together for 3 years if you break up she gets half of everything anyway. Common Law relationships are very legal. I have seen some very messy financial situations created by this situation including the sale of what one partner thought was there home in order to settle the split.

 

[tbarcier]

Hey Greg, Happy Birthday! Common law is 12 month for Federal, (so CRA etc..) and 3 years for Ontario ( ie family law) so it depends on the issue.

 

[Thomas Beyer]

QUOTE (tbarcier @ Oct 29 2009, 10:09 AM) Haha, Thomas....really pushing the ol` get hitched thing eh. Well I tell ya, I`m not doing it! Nope no way never. Well at least until she says I have too.
just an opinion: if you can`t commit to a serious relationship you should not live together nor will you likely be a serious real estate investor as it takes COMMITMENT to attract JV money and follow-through .. again .. just my humble opinion based on experience ..

 

[tbarcier]

I tease Thomas,

it is a very serious and committed relationship, and we don`t feel that being "traditional" has anything to do with that.

 

[Mitch Collins]

HydroHead;

Are you able to manage three seperate tenants in this type of situation? What you`ve stated is different than just renting out a `basement suite` to tenants, it looks like you want to rent to seperate people for increased revenue. That works great, but there is a lot more work, and you now have to find people that fit with each other...be prepared for a lot of BS fighting between the tenants that you`ll be for conduit for.

Ask me how I know...

In any case - this could be a great opportunity for you to get started and start bank rolling savings..I personally bought my first 3 homes all with basement suites and it worked beautifully.

Good luck!

 

[Retreaters]

Go for it Hydro.

I did the same thing when I was in University - granted it was a little easier not having the live-in girlfriend - and it allowed me to save a tonne.

Sold the first place to by my next place (w my girlfriend, now wife) and converted it to a triplex and rented 2 units and lived in the third.

Kept that place and bought my current principal residence which has a basement apartment. I really think that those years of having others in the same building has made having someone in my basement a lot easier for both me and the wife.