First House Hack with Low Capital

[Dante Anthony Banez Jr]

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $350,000
Cash invested: $11,000

First investment and househack. Both units are roughly 950 sqft and was purchased with a roof only a year old. Currently live in 1 unit with my family while renting the other side. 1 unit is a 2 bed 1 bath and the other is a 2 bed with a partly converted garage (existing when bought) being used as a 3rd bedroom 1 bath.
Used a GSFA down payment assistance program as capital was not high at the time and was able to cut my living cost from roughly ~$2400/mo to ~1000/mo

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Originally a friend of mine from years ago mentioned he owned a duplex that paid for itself, roughly 2014.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

MLS, public deal.
My realtor knew the other and the current landlord just lost a ton of money on evicting the previous tenant as she didn't pay for a long time. Long story short, tired landlord. Due to the age of the home and amount of needed pest work I was able to negotiate some minor repairs as well as credit.

How did you finance this deal?

Standard FHA financing with GSFA down payment assistance.

How did you add value to the deal?

No value add was done but it did cut my living expenses significantly.

What was the outcome?

Still currently living in one unit with the same tenant as when I got the property.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Definitely would have waited if I could to have more capital to feel more comfortable. Within 2 weeks of obtaining the property a pipe burst basically and it cost me a good amount to fix.
1. Have reserves
2. Have a list of contractors/handymen that you can call
3. Try to take care of the problems now before they get big
4. There is an emotional aspect to living next to your tenant, try to keep it between the lines.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

While I had a real estate license at the time and was working as an ISA for 6 months prior, I was basically brand new and fresh.
I used the owner of our team as my representative and still currently work with him to this day.