Advice on house hacking

[Sam Jurgenson]

Hey everyone, I’m pretty new to BP and real estate investing as a whole, so I just wanted to seek some advice from anyone that has been through house hacking. I live in the Portland, OR area and I’m looking to start my real estate investing through house hacking. I’m 28 years old and work a modest job with a mid level income. I’ve been saving for about three years and have about $25,000 saved up. I am also completely new to the process of purchasing a home, and I’m not quite sure what my first steps should be. As stated in the first paragraph, I am looking for advice from anyone that has been through this process previously. I have listened to several BP podcasts and gained a lot of valuable knowledge, and I’m currently reading the book on rental properties by Brandon Turner. Thanks in advance, I hope to get some knowledge out of this as well as help any others in a similar situation.

[Colin E Stevenson]

Sam, 

A lot of good advice here. I just closed on my first duplex two days ago.

I'll add a couple of points I didn't see.

1. Know your credit. I had been on credit karma for a couple of years and assumed that because my scores were in the 670-690 range, I was in ok shape to buy a house. This wasn't the case with actual FICO scores though, and I had several months of work to do on my credit before I was able to buy.

2. Check with several lenders for rates and mortgage options. Then get a pre-approval before you go shopping. My state, WI, has a great mortgage option for first timers, that outweighs FHA. Perhaps your state does too?

3. Know the rules of thumb. Use the rental calculator on BP. Become familiar enough with Ali's numbers on a napkin article, that you can do them yourself on a napkin and get yourself a good first deal.

Good luck