starting out - house hacking

[Joseph McGrath]

Hi All! I've been giving a lot of thought of house hacking within the next year or so. In May '22, I will have been a full year out of undergrad and have been working full time since. The idea of house hacking to me is very intriguing since I will be able to cover, or limit one of the largest expenses that most people incur & have, while also getting my feet wet into the world of real estate. I live in NJ & the hope is to find a duplex to move into, live in one unit and rent out the other to hopefully cover most of the mortgage on the property. I've also read about down payment assistance programs that can help with closing on the home (I understand that they lay out specific requirements for participants that they must abide by i.e. living in the property and not selling for x amount of years.) If anyone has any experience with a similar process like this, I would be more than happy to hear your experiences and what you've learned along the way. Thanks! - Joe