Veteran, Divorced, Need to house hack in NJ by June 2020

[Steven E.]

Hi BP, 

Firstly I'm new to BP and to the idea of house hacking so please forgive me if this is posted in the wrong section. 

So I recently got divorced and my ex & I decided to remain in our current rental until the lease is up in July 2020 rather than breaking the lease & we didn't want to put our kids in a new school mid year. 

Reason I NEED to house hack

Divorce is expensive.. ran threw my savings and racked up my credit cards on lawyer and court fees. 
I currently pay $2300 a month in rent, utilities not included. I'm looking to use my VA loan (taking advantage of 0% down) to house hack on a duplex or better. I currently live in NJ (Bergen county) and would like to stay in the area Rutherford area (not necessarily the city). Not having to pay rent monthly will benefit me tremendously with this new child support bill =D.

What I'm looking for

A realtor who has experience dealing with not only VA loans, but house hacking with a VA loan.

Any tips? Books to read? People to reach out to? 

[Jerry Padilla]

@Steven E.

Welcome!
VA you are always required to house hack and live in the property for a year - or at least plan too. It is a primary residence loan only.

Are you planning to purchase a Multi-family? With VA, you are required to have 2 years experience as a landlord or you can't count rental income. This means you would have to qualify on your income only for the loan. Other than that VA is a really great product! You can get into a property with very little out of pocket costs and no mortgage insurance! Let me know if you have questions!