22yr Old First Real Estate Investment: House Hacking In Dallas TX

[Mario Bolivar]

Hello BP family,

Investment rookie here, recent computer engineering grad (just this August!) hungry to learn and grow my portfolio. I currently have around 10k saved up and a credit just shy of 800. I'm looking for a property to reside in for at least a year that makes sense to house hack and is in good shape (4+ bedrooms in a decent central location attractive to other working professionals somewhere around farmers branch/addison/richardson) in the 250-300k range. I'm not really looking for any heavy restorations as time and focus at work will not allow. I've been listening to the podcast and doing a lot of research on where and how to get started but am at the deer in headlights stage paralyzed with excuses. One of the biggest being 10k not being enough of a cushion for down payment + closing costs/fees in a case of emergencies. Furthermore, I still have some more research and planning left on my house hacking strategy, talking to a CPA about house hacking, the tax implications behind the passive income, and so on. My question is the following: should I wait a bit more until early/mid next year? I will have a bit more of a financial cushion when MBO bonuses at the company I currently work for are awarded, more time to research, plan, network and connect, and overall more prepared in general.

Lastly, any books, podcast #s, or any insight on finding good deals in the dfw for a rookie in the area?

Any and all advice is welcome and very much appreciated.

Thank you very much in advance!