Advice on next move(s) - potentially unique starting point

[Branden Nojima]

Hi everyone, I’ve been lurking here a few months and I think I’m ready to start making some moves in the RE space. The reason I am posting is because I think my situation may be somewhat unique as I haven’t seen any posts similar to it. But anyways, thanks for taking the time to read my post and here it goes.

I'm a 29 year old married man making about 40k a year (before taxes) living in california. I have no debt personally (wife has about 100k in student loans) and an 800 credit score. Last year we had saved enough for a down payment on our first SFH as a primary residence. Now here's where it gets a little interesting. My dad is a RE agent/lender and basically did everything for us, got a 2.5% interest rate, gave us his commission to go to closing costs AND he even took the 360k loan out in his name. However, we are paying the mortgage, property tax, etc.

My goal is to use the brrrr method to get into my first investment property be it a sfh or small mfh. But I am unsure what the best move is to get there. Do I just get a conventional loan with 20% down? Should I try and get the first time home buyer loan? I think I could still qualify even if it is cheating the system a bit? I also am not opposed to house hacking in order to get an fha loan and renting out my primary residence but it may take a lot of convincing the wife lol.

Also, my other question is should I have my dad put the house in my name? I am worried if something goes wrong with the rental property I buy in the future it may somehow result in me losing my primary residence and I’m not sure I’m willing to take that risk.

What would you do if you were in my position? I appreciate any and all advice! Again thank you for reading!

-Branden