House hacking ideas in Northern Virginia

[Ahsan Lake]

I've got about 20K saved up, I'm looking to house hack in Northern virgnia. However, I am living with my girlfriend and we would rather have some sort of separation between the living spaces. Being that MFH are non-existent here, what options do I have? I am commuting to Tysons so I'd like to keep the commute under an hour. Any ideas?

[Valerie Hiscoe]

Cross of the impossible and do what's left but never give up!

Looking for a residence that's 'subdividable' makes you look at the places you're touring in a whole new way.  It gives you a WAY better idea of what to buy.  A mother-in-law suite or 'mortgage helper' is a great way to kick off your real estate investing career and you'll learn about renovating too.  Seeing as there is just the two of you, you could buy a place that's older and add a quite nice suite that YOU could live in (it'll be new once you renovate it - smaller but new and functional) while you rent out the rest of the house for a quite nice boost to your income.

Buy the ugliest house on the nicest block and make sure parking won't be a problem.  Parking is the #1 reason your neighbours might not be happy about you having a suite.  Put the money in your suite and the exterior and you'll be laughing all the way to the bank.  You'll add resale value like crazy because - who DOESN'T need a mortgage helper!