Starting my investing in college (send advice)

[Aiden Farthing]

I have a unique situation that I have talked to several people about & now I want the views of those here at bigger pockets. I'm going to college next year & have had money saved in a 529 (college fund w/ roughly 30k). My immediate family has never had much money at all. But my grandparents were fortunate enough to be financially secure. They are the ones who have generously set up this fund for me. Due to my family not having a whole lot I am getting grant money around 6k and the tuition at the university I'm attending is around 7k/yr. estimated book cost is $1,100/yr & dorm rooms are around 10k/yr. This sounded crazy to me so that's where my idea of buying a house came in. So I started to factor in everything as far as expenses & whether or not this goal is achievable. I work at a bank & I am set with my school hours working 2-6 Monday-Friday & a couple Saturday's a month (3 hour shifts on Saturday) making $9.20/hr. I have a friend who wants to live in this house. Great friend & we have been warned about the dangers of living with a close friend but we want to try because we believe we can. He as well works for a bank with similar hours and pay. He expects nothing more out of this house than a place to live, by that I mean it isn't his investment. He will pay rent on whatever is decided. We have a couple of other friends going to a community college next to the university I will be attending, who want to get jobs and live in the house. The 4 of us have upperclassman friends who did almost the same thing & they said the love living with their best friends. So down to financing, I don't have hardly any credit if any. I've had a credit card for a couple months now. So I figured I'm going to need a co-signer for the home. This is where my #1 options I was thinking was to get my grandpa to co-sign. But if not him, a family friend said he would if we made a deal. Numbers have not yet been determined but an amount of money monthly is the idea so far that is reasonable. Or a % of money after sell years down the road. So I figured I would charge my friend more than the loan amount & utility & water for rent to receive a profit to pay so I can refinance down the road & make myself the only signer, once I build up my credit so his payment would no longer required of me. On a side note, I basically don't want to hand over my money for rent & want to get experience from this whether or not I come out on top I feel like it will be a great learning point. Numbers for school are listed above to present the point that even after this house's downpayment, closing cost, escrow account, insurance, & other expenses I should still be able to afford college as long as I still qualify for financial aid. I'd love to get any sort of advice, suggestions, alternative plans, other financing options, what kind of house to buy, what to focus my learning on before the next steps are taken, or just a simple tip. Thanks bigger pockets for your time!