Single-family in Allentown, PA w/ Airbnb

[Myriam Joseph]

Hello,

I am a new to real estate looking to purchase my first rental property within the next 6 months with an FHA loan. I will be moving due to a job change and am looking at areas in Allentown/Lehigh Valley/Phillipsburg , NJ or going further north in NJ like Elizabeth, NJ. I was thinking to "house hack" the property by listing on Airbnb that way I can live in the property to follow FHA guidelines but still produce income. I used the Airbnb tool on BP and the numbers seem to make sense to me. The zipcode areas I am looking at is 18101 and 18102. My questions are:

1. Does the method of listing the property on Airbnb seem appropriate?

2. Ive seen mixed reviews with those zipcodes, any commentary/help is appreciated?

3. Is Allentown a good market to try todo this with COVID and market/house market crash talks? (versus Phillipsburg or further north in NJ?)

4. I have thought about a multi-unit, but it is incredibly competitive in the area.. should I still try to get the multiunit ?

Any help, suggestions, directions ANYTHING is appreciated. The wonderful and overwhelming thing about real estate I have realized is that there are so many options and ways to go about doing things.

Thank you!