House Hack Brand New Duplex

[Kevin McCandrew]

So I'm looking at purchasing a Brand New Duplex that comes with Fridges/ Washer & Dryers on each side for 285,000 which with a 3.5% down payment with an FHA loan will put my mortgage around $1900 so lets say $2000. I can rent the other unit for $1300-$1400 in that area leaving me only $600 left to pay have been hoping for the renter to cover mortgage, but looks like in my area Houston, TX Brand new duplexes/ even older ones run around 250k-300k.

So heres my list of Pros and Cons im trying to weigh out 

Pros:

Brand new no fixes for a long time

If i moved out in a year (FHA purposes) could cash flow up to $800 after

Me and My girlfriend would save money if we split remaining $600 in half so $300 a piece saving us each roughly $250 in rent 

Cons:

Dont know if paying $600 is really considered house hacking

Dont know if thats too of a price or if i can build equity in a Brand New Duplex.

This is my first step towards investing so Any feedback/ advice is welcome!

[Andrew Fisher]

Hey Kevin,

This sounds like a solid idea for getting started, though I am also still just getting started so I look forward to hearing other responses on the topic. Any way to reduce you living expenses seems like a good thing, so I'd say this is still a house hack!

Been thinking about doing the same thing myself, hopefully someone with experience can point us in the right direction.