First Time House Hack - DTI/Mortgage Amount

[Joshua Togger]

Hello All,

I'm looking to get started in REI by purchasing a small Multi that I can move into one side for the first couple of years. I'm not interested in making a REI a full time job, but rather as a profitable side gig/something I do for fun - which is why I'm attracted to the idea of house hacking. I'd like to know what everyone's thoughts about what type of budget I should be looking at when shopping for the right deal when starting out.

Some background info:
- I have zero personal debt currently.  

-I've actually been living at home for the past few months while wrapping up a frivolous lawsuit with my previous landlord (which we won, but that's another story) so I don't currently have a lease or huge rush to purchase so I have a place to live.

-I'm in the Richmond, VA market, and I'd like to stay close to the city (if there are any locals advice on neighborhoods would be nice).

-I've talked to a few lenders, and they all say based on my income (which will be increasing very shortly since I am taking on a new job in the next couple weeks) I could potentially be approved for ~300k mortgage.  However, I'm not sure taking out that large of a mortgage is the smart thing to do.  

- Good credit score, above 720

-I don't necessarily need the property to cash-flow 100% as I'm living there, but obviously would want it to once I move out and fully rent it.

- Ideally I'd like to be able to cover the mortgage payment from my current income without crushing me in case of a worst case scenario.  So I really wouldn't want that payment to be more than ~1-1.3k

- I have up to ~30k for a down-payment. I dont want to to have to use it all if I dont have to and instead keep some for improvements, but depending on the house price I could do more to get a better loan (FHA vs traditional, etc.)

- I have plans to go back to school for a MBA in the next few years, so that's something I'm looking at as well.  Ideally It wouldn't matter and I would just move out and rent the other side, maybe pay a PM while I'm in school.  But it's something to consider since I wont have income for a couple of years. 

- While I don't have any personal debt, I do share a mortgage with my mother for the house she bought for me and my brother to live in while we were at college instead of paying to live in dorms (brother is still currently there).  My name is on the mortgage because at the time we decided it would be good to build my credit, and since my mother is a high income earner I'm able to claim the income from the other tenants.  I may need to refinance this to get my name of the loan to get approved, but more than likely I could just get another co-sign from my mother.   

-Based on some of the rough numbers I've crunched, I think It'll be smart to stick in the <200k range, ideally around 150k. (FHA payment 1,000-1400, Conventional to start would be about the same)

Anybody have any thoughts?  I'd like to know what you all think.  Let me know if I left anything out.