House Hacking: Am I Doing This Right?

[Account Closed]

Hello, just got my first property residential property under contract a couple days ago. Still needs to be inspected and check out, but I just wanted to get the advice of the group on a few things.

 3/2.5 with a detached guest house. I'm single, no kids, going to move into the guest house for a year or two and rent out the big one. 

Purchase price: 250k 

Amount Financed: 237,500k (5% down)

Projected PITI: 1,800/mo or so

Market Rent: 1,500/mo (main house) & $800 (1bdrm that I'll live in initially)

I understand this isn't the deal of the century and I need to account for expenses related to vacancy, repairs, capex, etc, so I won't REALLY be living on a $300/mo "rent." But, it's near our small downtown and I can walk to work from this location so it has some perks to me outside of just income. With that being said, I'm not going to live here forever and in 3-5 years will be looking at this thing from strictly a business standpoint.

Questions to the group:

-Should I put more down?

-What should I be projecting to pay myself in rent every month to help build up the emergency fund and cover any repairs or expenses associated with the property?

-I would assume I shouldn't expect rents to rise to have the "1% rule" make sense, but should i expect decent cashflow from this thing eventually assuming my town doesn't have a mass exodus?

-It is probably not smart to count on refinancing in 3-5 years to help reduce expenses considering how rates are starting to climb, is it? 

Thank you and I appreciate any feedback 

[Max T.]

Sounds like a solid base hit and a good way to start off your portfolio. I would caution against putting more money down to "buy" better cashflow. It isn't really cash flow if you have to buy it. It may be a good idea however to pay extra towards principle and do the right renovations so that you can eliminate your PMI in a few years. Hopefully appreciation has your back and will push up the value of the property over the next few years. Good luck!