Tips for House-Hacking - Maryland

[Guy Harriss]

Hello Everyone!

My wife and I are hoping to start our REI journey and are targeting house-hacking as our first strategy. Our plan is to finance with an FHA, live there for a year, then move out and rent our unit. We are looking for multifamily properties in Maryland that produce positive cash flow after all expenses. Any tips to help us get started?

[Russell Brazil]

There is not much multifamily housing in the Maryland/Virginia/DC corridor. The few places they can be found have been mentioned, and none of them are places I would live as they tend to be in areas of high poverty. (Though everyone is different). DC has a couple neighborhoods with them like Trinidad, but it's very hard to compete for the few available.

The way to go if you are intent on it is maybe focusing on a property in Montgomery County Md where you can put a basement apartment in. Germantown has a number of houses that have partially above ground basements that have enough room for a basement unit. The county has eased the regulations on these. I think they have to have egress from the bedroom and be 500 feet away from another property with a basement unit.