First post and I would love your perspective

[Tasia Larri]

Good morning everyone, 

So lucky to have found this website and i look forward to learning much and sharing even more with you all. 

I want to give a quick introduction and also present with a situation to analyze. I am looking forward to hearing different perspectives.. Thank you in advance. 

So I am a 26 yo single female and I am in the process of buying my first property-- i am currently renting and my leasing agreement is up  15 April 2019. Over the summer I decided that i no longer wanted to rent and would like owning a home to be my next step.., however, i have shifted my mindset and would like to not just buy a liability (the first home) but would like to create an asset via house hacking. I currently live in the Baltimore Metropolitan area.

I am currently prequalified for a "Purchase and Rehab" loan for up to 160K--my thoughts right now are to find a property (duplex/multifamily) under 100K (foreclosure preferably)  fix it up and house hack/rent out the other unit. Although after research, seems nearly impossible to find. Also, this loan has limitations, which are that the property must be located in specific "healthy neighborhood- target blocks" . (The program is Healthy Neighborhoods Program).

I guess my question is .. being that I would like to get into investing ASAP and i feel like this would be a great small step , are there any more options out there that would be more optimal for my situation (hard money lender, other programs, better routes)? 

My concerns: -I will not be able to find a duplex/multifamily in specific price range/area -This loan will prevent me from buying more properties. -I will have to settle for a single family home (liability).

Thanks so much.. I cant wait to hear different perspectives. :-)

[Sean Monahan]

Welcome to BP Tasia. It would be ideal to have a multifamily but another house hacking strategy that lends itself to the Baltimore area is buying one of the SFH's in the area you are permitted and renting out rooms. I know that has worked for many people in this area including one of my homes. You can live for free, build some equity, possibly establish renters for when you potentially move out to another larger property. Also you can use the loan to get some work done and do some work yourself with sweat equity. It may not be ideal but that is how I forced value into my first few homes.