Hello New to Real Estate- 100's of podcasts in and excited to

[Jacob Pham]

Hello New to Real Estate- 100's of podcasts in and excited to take action. So this post is July 2022. 

Hi my name is Jacob. My fiance and I live in Austin, TX. We want to find a multi-family to live in one side and rent the other. I feel like Zillow has very limited postings and I am curious what sites people use, or if I have to figure out some way to find off-market deals.

We lived in Massachusetts for many years, and we wanted to move and see a different part of the country. 

I've been in the Army Reserves for 5 years. I am 1 year away from being eligible for the VA home loan. I debate daily if I should just do an FHA home loan and get started now or wait. The issue is I am getting mobilized right around year 6 so I feel I might wait for that to start house hacking. I am open to thoughts on that. Again, in short:

(Opton 1) do FHA now and get started in Austin, TX where I am,

(Opton 2) wait until mid-2023, go on mobilization, keep an eye on Augusta market, and house hack in Augusta, GA as soon as we arrive. 

(Option 3) I could also just wait until mobilization is over in 2024 and do our first house hack then which might be less stress back in Austin, TX

Any VA home loan experts on here with insight? Again, I want to get started but the mobilization throws a wrench in my plans. I am trying to not let it hinder my financial decisions though and use it as an opportunity. I am leaning Option 2 and using VA home loan. Does anyone know if when you PCS back home you are eligible to use VA home loan again? Could I use the mobilization as opportunity to get two multi-families (4 doors total) under my belt?

Thanks and thank you to any guests on the show that might see this. I've loved the many stories you have shared that makes this goal seem attainable. Thanks.

[Zack Karp]

@Jacob Pham if you are planning to house hack 2-4 unit properties, and stretch your loan down payment opportunities as far as possible, it's actually best to use FHA first anyway.

In a perfect world, here's the order of how you should finance these:

1. FHA

2. Home Possible (if your income is below the qualifying income cap)

3. VA

4. VA (using secondary/bonus entitlement)

There are strategic qualifying/guideline reasons for this order.  Take it from someone with 24 years writing mortgages, and I also teach VA lending. If you follow this order, you can get up to 16 doors in just over 3 years, following the 1 year occupancy rule. And even better, you can divide and conquer, and your fiancée can do the same if she can qualify on her own too, making it up to 32 doors between both of you.

Your best bet is to talk to a loan officer who knows how to navigate all this with YOUR best intentions in mind, and map it all out for you.  That means stay away from the call center LO's, and make sure your LO is an expert working with real estate investors and Veterans.

TYFYS and best of luck!