Guest Contribution by Samantha Gilbert
Imagine this
You come home to your apartment after a long day ready to relax. Instead, you find a notice on your door that your apartment building is raising rent on you… again.
As you read the notice you can hardly concentrate while your neighbor’s poorly trained dog is losing its marbles through the thin walls next door.
Just as you thought it couldn’t get any worse your neighbor living above you is throwing some sort of party. You’d think their friends were elephants with the constant thumping overhead adding to your headache.
In an attempt to unwind you walk to the fridge to reach for a Ben and Jerry’s pint of Half Baked. Gone. Your roommate ate it and left a cute IOU note in the freezer.
You need control. You need freedom. What if I told you you can have control, freedom, and financial stability by buying a house? It’s called house hacking.
What is house hacking?
Here’s some shocking information. I’ve never paid market value for rent. In fact, I’ve never spent more than $350/month to live. When I used the house hacking strategy I became a homeowner and landlord at 23 years old.
The definition of house hacking is when you purchase a home as your primary residence and rent a portion of it out. This allows you to minimize your personal housing expenses and in some cases live for free.
I rented out the extra rooms in my house to drastically decrease my living expenses which created the opportunity to pile a lot of extra cash for things that I love.
What was the first thing I did with that extra money? I put 50% down on a 3-year-old Lexus which allowed my payments to be less than $300/month. Quite the upgrade from a 2000 Toyota Echo.
Today I have a large savings and emergency fund, I’m working on acquiring my next investment property, and I don’t think twice when I pull out my wallet. This is how homeownership elevated my life, now let’s talk about the 3 ways it can upgrade yours.
#1 Control
Say goodbye to your landlord and delete their phone number because you won’t have to live under their restrictions any longer. Feel security in knowing the threat of rent increases, future, fees, and eviction no longer exist. No more pet or guest limits. You will never have to rely on someone else to fix your broken garbage disposal or any other maintenance that might come up. The power is yours and you have the authority to dictate your living situation how you like without relying on someone else.
#2 Freedom
Paint, decor, and appliances? Your call. Create a space that compliments who you are. Tap into your creative side, do your own upgrades, and pull up those DIY projects you’ve been saving for a rainy day. Open your home to whomever you like. Choose to live alone or choose to have roommates. The choice is yours.
#3 Financial Stability
Stop feeling depleted, exhausted, and drained by giving up most of your hard earned income to your landlord or property manager. The truth is, when you write the rent check you might as well take that cash and light it on fire. Exit the vicious cycle of dishing out money and never getting ahead for a true asset that will increase your net worth. Use homeownership as leverage to get ahead in life and start building that savings account so you can stop living paycheck to paycheck.
Imagine if you could live for under market value. Living expenses eat up the largest amount of your monthly budget. If you eliminated your living expenses altogether how would this make an impact on your life? Some of you would be able to pay off your student loans. Others would be able to stack cash away to build a hefty savings or, better yet, spend money on the luxuries you love like traveling.
Now what?
I know what you’re thinking… “I’m in!” but what’s the next step? My step-by-step guide to homeownership. In this downloadable eBook where I outline the exact steps and lessons learned to get to where I am today. In this book, I walk you through my 6-step process on how to create a strong financial future for the rest of your life through homeownership. You’ll learn how to:
Save — A strategy to build a downpayment.
Build — Consult with and find a trustworthy team to guide you through the home buying process.
Buy — The home buying process mapped out.
Vet — Finding reliable tenants.
Lease — Tips on protecting your property and your future.
Repeat — Restart the process to build a real estate empire.
After experiencing, first hand, how house hacking changed my life, I am passionate about helping others create their own version of my story. House hacking is the best kept secret and I’ve taken on the responsibility of sharing that secret with the world.
To get on the waitlist click here.
![Sam-Gilbert_2J6A2124_Web.jpg](https://curatewell.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Sam-Gilbert_2J6A2124_Web.jpg)
I provide streamlined, stress-free, and seamless communication so that your experience is guided and you feel confident with every step and every contract you sign. When you work with me, advocating for your best interests is my number one priority so that you are protected and prepared when it comes to the unexpected or unknown (like out of pocket costs!)
You want freedom. You want to leverage homeownership to set yourself up for a better future. But you don’t know where to start, or the steps to send you off in the right direction.
I’m here to structure and support the home buying experience, so you have more money to spend on the luxuries of life.
www.samthedenverrealtor.com
@the.denver.realtor
samthedenverrealtor@gmail.com
Facebook | LinkedIn