First property Townhome, duplex, or flip?

[Bryan Gregory]

Seeking advice!!!

My wife and I are both in school for the next 2-3 years or so and are looking to get our first property close to campus. Instead of paying rent and losing that money, we’d rather put it towards a mortgage of our own. We are considering one of the following options, but are open to other suggestions! Please let us know what you think!

1. FHA loan Duplex. Owner occupy one side and rent out the other. By far my favorite option, but will require the highest down payment and probably the highest mortgage payments.

2. FHA loan Townhome. The mortgage on this would be pretty affordable, it would be probably about as much as we would spend rent on living close to campus. It would just be trading off from paying rent to paying it towards a mortgage.

3. Flipping a house. Are you able to even flip a house using an FHA loan? Or is there a way for poor college kids to afford this? With this option we would flip a house and then use the money for a down payment on a duplex.

Another question:

As a rental property investor, would it be beneficial for me to get my real estate license? My internship would pay for it for me.

Which option would you choose? Or any other ideas?

[Jonathan Greene]

#3 is a no. In my opinion, most people will tell you to do #1, but I would do #2 so you can keep your heads in school and learn and grow inside of a safer investment with HOA protecting you from some of the major expenses that could come in a house hack. Too many people rush into it and a condo or townhome is a safe way to enjoy a property, play it carefully, but also set yourself up with a rentable unit when you are done. You can stay on the FHA while you live there and then refi out before you leave, grab some appreciation, and then put the next FHA into a house hack after graduation or close to it.