Do lenders ever consider income from a house-hack property?

[Eli Kallison]

Hi BP,

I am looking to purchase a 2-4 unit multi in St. Louis to househack. I have a good deal of cash and I will probably be putting down ~80%, but my income will be limited for the next few years ($30k/yr). 

Do lenders ever consider the future rents that will come from the other units of the property? Any thoughts/advice here would be much appreciated!

-Eli

[Brett McManus]

Hi Eli, 

Congrats! I am a week out from closing on my first duplex to House Hack and can confirm that lenders are willing to take the income from the property into consideration to raise pre-approval amounts and provide additional ammunition to go hunting. My piece of advice would be to skip the big banks and head straight to a mortgage broker or local credit union. They were the ones that were willing to get creative/work with me to make things happen. 

For me personally this was the missing piece needed that opened up my price range from SFH to MFH ultimately allowing me to find the duplex I am currently under contract for.

Hope this helps!