I'm a 17 year old planning to buy a house in Seattle for College

[Chase Van Derrick]

A little about me: I'm a 17 year old senior in high school, planning to go to college in Seattle next year. I'm also on loaded up on community college classes so I'm on track to graduate high school with both a HS diploma and an AB. So far I've read a few books about real estate and plan to read many more.

Call me an idiot, but I'd really like to buy a house at 18. I know buying a house isn't really something people think about until later in life but I love investing, and I'd really love to get into real estate. In theory I'd love to house hack, but in Seattle multi-family homes go for at least $1m, which is a little bit out of the budget to say the least. 

So my plan, is to get an 3.5% down FHA loan for a 2 bedroom condo around the 300k range. That means the down payment is $10k, and because I've been saving aggressively since I was 15 I have enough money in the bank to cover that. The estimated monthly cost is a little north of 2k (including MIP), and I could get a roommate to cover half of that. 1k a month is the same cost of university dorms, which means I would have to shell that out either way.

So correct me if I'm wrong, but for around 10k I get to:

-Own my own condo at 18

-Take advantage of ungodly Seattle appreciation

-Live in a nicer place than the university dorms

-Start building equity for future deals

Not to mention I'm currently chipping away at the Washington mandated real estate course, and should be set to have a license on my (or close to) my 18th birthday. Which means I would get around 3% commission acting as the buyers agent. IE: My downpayment is basically payed for!?

 This sounds amazing, but "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." I'd love to hear thoughts on this and where you guys see potential shortfalls with this. Thanks in advance for your time!

[Evan Dobrowski]

Hi Chase, I was in a similar boat in my high school days and I will say the major flaw to the plan is your lack of income. If you find a co-borrower that could work depending on the title option you go with but I did not choose to go this route because I did not want to ask someone to take on that potential liability for me. Second item I did not notice you calculate bus the HOA fees associated with a condo are generally $500 at the low end. I stay away from condos especially in the Seattle area for that reason.

All that being said, if you find a way to make it work you will be on your way to a successful real estate career and early retirement if you are looking for that. I invest in the greater Seattle area and stick with duplexes and single family. Using the BRRR method, during the rehab my wife and I live in the house for just over a year to qualify for the next purchase to be considered our primary residence.

My advice is don't settle for a Seattle condo because you feel that's the only thing you can afford. Check out areas just outside of Seattle. If your house hacking you've got a carpool, if not you've got the train and current expansion of the light rail system or get a car, motorcycle, etc.  Condos don't generally go up as fast as single family and they don't sell as fast either which can be problematic when you want something different. I would look to the north lynnwood area, light rail is almost there, but great deals are still to be had, those houses are going to be valued at Shoreline prices in a few years once commuters realize the light rail is complete and the school district is comparable.