House Hacking in Southern California

[Nicholas Garcia]

I’m looking to House Hack a Single Family Home in Southern California near a college campus (Los Angeles and surrounding area within 30 mile radius).

I’m a single 25 year old, have about $30K in liquid cash reserves to work with that I’m comfortable with spending and have a stable income.

The elephant in the room is Los Angeles prices and the surrounding area range from $400K - $2 Million. I’m definitely no Kylie Jenner-baller, so I’m staying out of the main city and have come across some potentially good 3 bedroom houses for $440K-ish deals.

Im planning on going with the CalPLUS Conventional Loan Program that allows me to put down 3% and I can wrap my closing costs into a silent 2nd loan that grows interest free.

The problem is I keep getting outbid. There’s always that baby boomer near retirement that raises the purchase price up by $30K-$60K and it’s something I can’t compete with.

Am I doing something wrong? Any area I can improve?

Second question, once I get the single family I technically won’t live for free. Max I can rent out the rooms is about $700-$900 each and that’s only covering about 2/3’s the total monthly expenses. Should I look for a distressed single family and do a house-hack live-in flip after a few years?

Sorry for the multi-question and slightly length post! Btw, I’m open to hearing what you guys would do in my situation. I’m always a student at heart and I definitely am a guppy in shark infested waters.