Successfully house hacking in Bay Area (or similar market) with FHA

[David Echeverria]

I was wondering if anyone has been successful with finding a multi-family home in the Bay Area to 'house hack' that fit the FHA guidelines (recently)? My family would like to move to a nicer area, and thought that using the house hack of buying a multi-unit property to live in one unit and rent the other would be a great way to get some skin in the game. However there doesn't seem to be many properties that will qualify for a FHA loan, those that do are areas that I would not want to live in.

[J. Martin]

@David Echeverria,

Tough to have your cake, and eat it too :(

I purchased a 4plex in the Bay Area with an FHA loan to get into an investment property I lived in with numbers that made a lot of sense. It paid for more than all my expenses and lived for free, with a purchase just over 2 years. To answer your other question, I think the best house-hacking methods here would be the following.. I think all of these are biable in the Bay..

a) renting each room to students
b) airbnb and/or vacation/business traveler short term housing
c) SFH or units with front and back door. Can rent as two almost private spaces w/ shared kitchen

The biggest difference is that I bit the bullet, and moved to an area that was less desirable to make it work, and have an investment that better fit my needs. After more than a year of living there, it turned out that I found a different place that I would rather live. But I don't have a family!

Regarding the limits on the max price for FHA, I can't change that for you. There are some banks doing 5, 10, or 20% down for owner-occupied homes. And some I believe are doing that for 2-4 units. So you may be able to get a non-FHA loan that doesn't have the same limit. Or get a 1st lien at 75-80% with a "piggy-back" second lien from the same lender, so you have less downpayment..

Not sure what other kind of advice you are looking for. Prices are what they are, and FHA limits are what they are.. Good luck though!