Best route for a college student

[Dayton Komarek]

My wife and I both want to get into real estate. We are both students and only working part time. What would be a good route to getting started?

[Chace Fraser]

Hi @Dayton Komarek welcome to BP! I agree with @Andrew B.

The best advice often heard is to start with a House Hack. This means buying a 2-4 unit property and renting out the other units. Often times the rent will cover or exceed your mortgage costs. Don't forget to keep reserves for maintenance and capital expenditures.

You can also use the FHA loan, which allows you to put 3.5% down on this property as well. (Also look into the FHA 203K loan)

Another benefit to going with a multifamily is that it can "boost" your purchase price using 75% of the other income to help your debt to income ratio... so $1000 rental is worth $750 to offset any PITI payments. A good thing especially for young adults who have student debt.