Looking To Purchase my First House Hack with FHA Loan.

[Adam Roter]

Hey BP Investors,

My name is Adam and I am looking to buy my first property under the 203K FHA loan for my first house hack! MY goal is to buy a 2-4 unit home somewhere in the 150k - 400k. I am having issues narrowing down my search for finding the right location/property. Right now I am living in New York City and at this time in my life (24 years old) I would not qualify for any of the homes here.

I work for a large property manager and I am very flexible on location. Ideally, I would like to be within 15-20 minutes of a major city as I would be able to transfer to a job in that city. 

My major issue is that I do not know how to begin narrowing down my search while being located in NYC. I am looking at listings online through zillow, trulia, etc.. as well as the Fannie Mae homepath program. 

If anyone has any suggestions on how I can get the ball rolling on my first house hack I would really appreciate it! I know I am being a little vague so happy to provide more info!

[Cara Lonsdale]

I think a better way to pursue your search is to find markets that you would consider living in.  Do a little research on the market to see if the price point you gave would be a reasonable one for finding what you are looking for.

Cross reference the cities you would like to explore with the ones that your employer is located in for ease of employment.

Once you come up with a list, dig in.  Find a good Realtor in each market to help you find a good property that meets your criteria.  Have them send you properties that could work, and evaluate them.  Write an offer on the one that is the best fit.

Make sure you also match yourself up with a 203K lender. Many of them CAN do an FHA 203K loan, but not all of them know how to do it properly, or the different options available. If you haven't already selected a lender, I would find one that has locations within the market you choose. What I mean by that is; not just that they are licensed to do a loan there, but they have locations physically placed within the market you have chosen. This will aid them in knowing local protocol for that market as well as seamless coordination between the FHA contact assigned to the case, and also the contractor who will need to agree to the FHA process for the rehab portion.

For example, if you were to consider the Phoenix market where I am, I would suggest Primelending or NOVA home loans. Both of these lenders are local and complete an FHA 203K in this market. Additionally, they have a National presence.