House Hacking 1st time buyer

[Aaron Arnold]

I am planing on house hacking my 1st property at the start of the new year. I will have about 10k and probably take another 10k from my 401k. I live in Phx area and plan on purchasing a property at least an hour within the downtown area, perhaps Tempe as ASU is there. My initial goal is cover my portion of the mtg with rents and see how it goes from there. Any advise would be greatly appreciated? Also is there anything I should avoid or be aware of? Thank you in advance.

[Scott Hollister]

@Aaron Arnold welcome!

First off, when I see your name I can't help but to say A-ARON... (See video) haha. Sorry, as a teacher I get a kick out of this! 

Second, Congratulations on choosing the best way to start REI as a new investor!

My advice, as I chose the same path as you back in 2012 right out of college. 

• Get Pre-Approved. I'm assuming you're going FHA first time home buyer?
• Run Your numbers. Factor in PMI (Life of the loan now).
• Find a Real Estate Agent that is investor friendly. Rely on yourself to verify deals, don't leave this up to anyone but you. Train your mind to think and act like an investor. 
• What books have you read that will help you? (My first one was Buy it, Rent it, Profit) This gave me an idea of how to run numbers. But the forums will have just as much and even more to help you understand all the costs involved. Also, the BP calculators are great tools to use. 
• Have reserves in place. (Things will pop up, be prepared. Save the extra income you get from other unit/units)
• When you do your tax returns (Most likely 2017 now), don't show a loss if you plan on buying more real estate. This has hurt me when trying to refinance out an REO I bought this year.

I left out a lot of information because I forgot most of the little daily battles. Just arm yourself with information, do your due diligence, buy right and you will do fine. Stay positive and don't listen to people who tell you you can't do something. 

Good luck Aaron!