Early 20s Military First-Time Home Buyer- Need Help!

[Ashley Perez]

Hello, this is my first post on here ever. I am very excited to have come across this forum.

I am 24 years old, I am in the military and graduated college this past May. Initially, I was going to wait until next year until I had a larger amount of savings to buy a property, but I qualify for the VA loan now. I live and work in New Jersey and I am looking to stay in NJ for the next 3 years or so. I feel like I have many options, but unsure where to start.

My short- term goals (next 3- 5 years) are to own various MFH (duplex or so) and SFH but expand to PA since property taxes are very high in NJ and tenant laws. I am looking to only have one MFH in Jersey which would be the owner-occupant since my job is here and the rest in PA (or is there a better course of action?).

Here is my scenario: I commissioned as an officer back in May and I am eligible for the USAA Career Starter Loan as well.

Loan amount: $25,000

Interest rate: 2.99 %

Term: 60 months

Monthly payment: $449.11

So having the VA loan and this career starter loan I am looking to see what would be the best option for me to take. VA loan calculator says I can qualify for up to $300,000 (not sure how accurate this is). From the research that I have done this is what I have gathered my options to be:

**I live back home now and I am planning on moving in after BOLC - around next December. 

Option 1: Buying a cheaper MFH (2 or 3 units) owner-occupant and using the career starter loan to renovate. Live in one unit and rent out the other(s).

Option 2: Buying a cheaper MFH (2 or 3 units) owner-occupant but using the VA Renovation loan? Live in one unit and rent out the other(s).

Option 3: Buying fully tenant-occupied MFH and moving in next December or a year after buying.  My understanding is VA loan only requires 2 months' statements as proof of address. 

Option 4: Buying a cheaper SFH or MHF and using the career starter loan to fix and flip (don' think VA rehab loan can be used to fix and flip) 

Option 5: Traditional house hack- buy a MFH owner-occupant, move-in ready.

So I don't know what I don't know - if that makes sense. Looking at this, and since I can wait some time until I move in, option 3 seems like the best one. I wanted to post this on here since I am extremely new and most likely missing out on a lot of information that I may not know. The career starter loan seems like a great resource and wanted to see the best way to utilize it- if it even benefits me to use it.

What would you suggest is the best course of action given my situation?

[David Pere]

@Ashley Perez the VA loan house hack is the way to go! Sure you can use the career starter loan in order to update the home, but you could also use it as the downpayment on a rental, or even put it in an index fund and let it compound for years. Ultimately, i think the VA loan house hack is the way to go, and that is exactly what I would do. Buy a 4-plex, and house hack it!

You can qualify for a larger loan with a house hack too because you can use 75% of the gross rental income from the units you don't live in toward your debt-to-income ration (provided you hire a property manager with more than two years experience)!