House Hacking - Financing Alternative to FHA

[Matthew Roder]

I was just listening to podcast #210, where a couple of different newbie investors shared their house hacking success stories. I wanted to share some knowledge in regards to financing a deal like this. Conventional mortgage guidelines require a down payment of at least 15% for a 2-4 unit property when buying as your primary residence. Due to the high down payment requirement, most house hackers will finance using FHA. The biggest drawback of FHA financing is that the PMI is for the life of the loan, not to mention there is a hefty 1.75% upfront mortgage insurance charged. There is a program through Freddie Mac however (conventional financing) called Home Possible. Utilizing this program buyers can put down 5% and since it is a conventional loan, the PMI will then go away once the balance of the loan is paid down to 78% loan-to-value. As long as the property is located in a 'targeted area', then there are no income restrictions on this program. Where I live, in the Chicago area, I've yet to come across a property that doesn't qualify. This is a great program for someone looking to house hack.