Brother is moving out of state!! Looking for creative ideas!!

[Chris McKinley]

I first wanted to say Hi bigger pockets because this is my first post. My question is about a situation my brother and I currently find ourselves in. I rent a room from my brother in his current house. My brother will be moving to a new duty station in June (we are both military) and is unsure about what to do with his house, rent or sell. The current loan on the house is a zero down VA loan. I only own one other property so I am relatively new to real estate but I was talking to him about his options. Since him selling or renting his house will essentially leave me with no place to stay I would like to somehow creatively structure a deal between the two of us so we both benefit. These are the options I thought of so far. Option 1 - doing a "subject to" and taking over the loan from him. I can still live there and have other tenants move in. My question is what happens to his equity in the house if I take over the deed?? Option 2 - We add my name to the deed and split the mortgage. This seems to decrease liability for both of us in terms of payments. My question on this option would be if it's a smart idea at all?? Option 3 - We go our separate ways and he rents the house. Since he is moving out of state he will need to get a property manager which drastically cuts his monthly cash flow. Option 4 - he simply sells and takes the equity he has in the house and the real estate world keeps spinning. Option 5 - any other creative ideas you beautiful people on bigger pockets have to give me. Cheers!! -Chris

[Karen Morgan]

Welcome to BP!!

I do RE investing in a Texas military town...I see lots of folks try to sell with their zero dow, VA loan homes, and there's just not enough equity to make the deal work. I also speak to LOTS of former military who rented out their old home at old post and simply buy a new one at their new post. Years later, they have multiple rental properties and used the VA loans in a very healthy way. Someone else gives them equity in the home, and they make a bit of money each month.

Hopefully you can rent from your brother, and y'all can work something out to allow you to partner on ownership of the property.