To house hack or to rent/invest out of state

[Anthony Salazar]

I’m currently looking at a nice duplex in good area in Santa Ana, CA. The idea is to house hack. The rent won’t cover the mortgage but it will definitely help. The mortgage on the property would be significantly more than what I’m paying in rent right now. This said, I’ve always wanted to own a home and was one of the first time home buyers that got out-bid a dozen different times during the crazy 2020 bidding wars. 

The options I’m considering are: buy this house hack and increase my housing expense (even with the rental from the second unit) or save the cash I have, keep a cheaper living expense, and keep saving  each month to invest out of state. I’ve started building my team in Cleveland with this strategy in mind, but I’m wondering what you all would suggest? 

I understand this is very subjective and probably not enough details but essentially house-hack for a year or two (with an increased housing expense) or continue to save cash and invest out of state. I’d probably keep the house as a rental after I move out. 

PS, I recently got my realtor license so I if I purchase in CA, I would be able to get almost all my down payment back, which I’d like to then invest into out of state rentals. 

Thanks! 

[Ashley Cross]

I’d have to agree with @Andrew Weiner It just makes more sense for your personal finances to go with a househack first. You can househack and build equity for yourself & learn the ins and outs of being a real estate investor with less risk. Investing out of state is a bit of science and art. The numbers typically look great on paper but there are other factors that come up that are hard to quantify.