House Hack Newbie in Oregon

[Megan Alan]

Hello BP Community! I discovered the BP podcasts while educating myself about financial literacy & the FIRE movement. As a creative professional historically "allergic to math," I never thought I'd consider real estate investing, but life is full of surprises! I've been a long-time renter in the Portland, Oregon market and would love to purchase my first house hack next year: a duplex or triplex, ideally. 

I'm eager to connect with anyone who can offer advice about finding and analyzing good deals. As I said, math and numbers aren't my strength, but I'm a dedicated student when I put my mind to something, and I know how to read and use a calculator :)

Thanks for reading!

Megan

[Nicholas L.]

@Megan Alan

hello. house hacking is a powerful strategy. in an ideal house hack you would:

-pay roughly the same that you'd pay in rent, net to the mortgage.  for example, if you could pay $2000 in rent, or house hack, and after rent still owe $1925 to the mortgage, you should still consider house hacking.  you're building equity.

-break even when you (eventually?) move out and turn it entirely into a rental.

as i say in what seems like every post on BP right now, we are not in a 'cash flow' market with prices and rates high.  but you can still build equity.

hope this helps

[Megan Alan]

Ok this is very validating to my thinking! That all makes sense. And yes, sad that cash flow seems to be an elusive reality right now, but I'm optimistic that it will be a possibility in the future. Thank you for chiming in Nicholas!!

[Wale Lawal]

@Megan Alan

To find the right deal in Portland, OR, follow market trends, use tools like Redfin, Zillow, and Realtor.com, and connect with agents and investors. Analyze deals using metrics like GRM, Cap Rate, and Cash Flow. Finance your first duplex or triplex through FHA Loan, Conventional Loan, Owner-Occupied Financing, and Portland-specific programs. Prepare for the journey by partnering with an investor-friendly agent.

Good luck!

[Megan Alan]

Thank you, Wale!! These are all very helpful, and I'm looking forward to the journey ahead :)

[Cory Carlson]

Welcome Megan and congrats on taking your first step! The house hack is a wonderful strategy to lower the entry barrier into getting some doors. Usually for first timers and low down buyers the underwriting is a little more simplistic than traditional buy/hold investors purely seeking yield. 

I generally categorize my house hack clients into two strategies/considerations. One is strictly investment, where the neighborhood/location is not important just the potential for upside and low cost living. The other side of the line would be someone looking for a nice place to live and just subsidize their housing costs with adjoining unit(s) rents. It's funny that over time usually people fall into the latter; or some combination. After digging through listings and getting feedback for needing a garage for all the toys, a fenced yard for the puppy or in a great location next to work. 

My advise is to just set realistic expectations (I can help with that!) and run a few scenario's then adjust accordingly. The math is fairly straightforward for low down buyers!

[Megan Alan]

Cory, thank you! The two strategies you outlined are extremely helpful to consider.. Would love to chat with you further after the holidays!

[Bill Hampton]

Welcome to Bigger Pockets. 

[Nicolas Martin]

Quote from @Megan Alan:

Hello BP Community! I discovered the BP podcasts while educating myself about financial literacy & the FIRE movement. As a creative professional historically "allergic to math," I never thought I'd consider real estate investing, but life is full of surprises! I've been a long-time renter in the Portland, Oregon market and would love to purchase my first house hack next year: a duplex or triplex, ideally. 

I'm eager to connect with anyone who can offer advice about finding and analyzing good deals. As I said, math and numbers aren't my strength, but I'm a dedicated student when I put my mind to something, and I know how to read and use a calculator :)

Thanks for reading!

Megan

Hey Megan, welcome to the community! It’s awesome that you’re diving into real estate despite being more of a creative person—it’s a great way to build wealth. A duplex or triplex is a solid choice for house hacking, and this community has tons of resources to help you learn how to find and analyze deals. Don't worry too much about the math—there are plenty of tools and people here who can help make it easier.

[Megan Alan]

Quote from @Bill Hampton:

Welcome to Bigger Pockets. 

 Thank you, Bill!

[Matthew Kwan]

HI Megan,

Indeed, you can definitely househack in a multifamily by living one unit and renting out the other vacant units. The good thing about househacking a legal multifamily unit is that lender allows you to use the vacated units of 75% market rent as an income to offset the potential current mortgage. You can put a little as 5% down payment for conventional or 3.5% for FHA.

Alternative way, is to acquire the 2nd property as an investment property with conventional, while putting 15%-25% down payment. Down payment can be higher than primary, but the good thing is that you won't need that much income to qualify because lenders can you 75% of the market rents for the units of the property. Imagine the 2nd property is a 4plex, each unit can be rented $1500/unit of 75% =$1125 x 4 units =$4500 worth of income to offset your that 2nd property.

@Albert Bui @Carlos Valencia

[Megan Alan]

Matthew –– this is all gold! Thank you so much for chiming in. We are hunting for a good deal and hope to put all these strategies to use.

[Grant Schroeder]

@Megan Alan I would definitely recommend connecting with @Brad Hammond if you have not already!

[Megan Alan]

Thank you, Grant! I will definitely reach out!