sHouse Hacking in Greater Los Angeles under 500k

[Pedro Cardoso]

Hi everyone! I recently moved to LA and I am looking for a property under 500k to house hack. I have already read past posts on this topic, but would be great to get refreshed views. What areas you recommend looking into that are not super sketchy?

For greater context, I work in downtown LA and I am prepared for a longer commute (ideally up to 1hr). Also I plan to do a 20% down payment (otherwise MI will kill my cash flow). I am aware that LA is difficult to cash flow but I would like to get as close as possible. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Best,

Pedro Cardoso

[Clarence Johnson]

I would explore using your cash reserves to put 3.5% down on a multi, or 5% down on a SFR with ADU. It may be difficult to find something reasonable in the $500K price point, so I'm hoping lower down payment can increase your buying power. MI does weigh heavy on FHA deals, however with 5% conventional for SFR with ADU the MI is FICO based and with a good FICO its several hundred less than FHA MI. I purchased a $650K SFR recently with the 5% down conventional and my MI is below $150, this would be over $400 for a FHA loan with the same value. Hoping this helps open your options, but if you do insist on putting the 20% down you can go get a HELOC to access some of the tied up cash. I just moved from my duplex house hack after 10 years, I was able to pick up two 2 other properties in that time, and access enough equity to build an ADU at the duplex and at the most recent SFR acquisition for my family househack.