My name is Ray Northcutt, and I got bit by the real estate bug in January of this year when my fiancée, Kendall – also on Bigger Pockets – mentioned her desire to invest in real estate one day. I immediately fell in love with the idea and began learning as much as I could via podcasts, books, articles, etc. Soon, I learned what house-hacking was and the advantage it could provide. Being in the Army, I have the added benefit of the VA loan, so I started looking for multi-family homes to purchase in our current town of Savannah, GA. Eventually, I found a 3/2 single family home with an attached 1/1 studio carriage house – essentially making it a multi-family residence. The numbers in this deal are the exciting parts: Purchase price: $312,000; purchased with 100% financing through the VA. After splitting closing costs and other minor costs, I have roughly $5,000 cash into the house with a 3.75% fixed 30-year mortgage. Currently, my rental income is $2500 ($1100 from the carriage house, and $700 from each of two roommates). With a mortgage payment just shy of $1900, I'm cash flowing $600 before utilities, which we all split. Getting paid to live for free is pretty nice! Of course, I also account for capital expenditures, future vacancies, future property management, etc, but so far, it's working out pretty well!

So my first deal on the Savannah house showed me that this thing actually works, and it can be an effective means to achieve financial freedom. The idea of financial freedom and our goal of retiring by 35 has never seemed more exciting and attainable (We are currently 26 and 24). So I went and bought another property. I closed on a 4/2 single family home in Jacksonville, FL earlier this month. I used a conventional loan for this property: $80,000 purchase price, 25% down, 4.625% interest over 30 years. If all goes as planned, I should cash flow $387 after all expenses including debt service, cap-ex, etc. My fiancée is going to manage this property herself to save us the property management expense, for the time being. Plus, the house is already tenant-occupied through February with a rent of $875. Huge thanks to Bigger Pockets member, Joseph Hamaoui, for helping me find and complete this deal. Joseph is a real estate agent and investor in Jacksonville, and is very knowledgeable and helpful. He helps investors find cash flowing properties and was extremely helpful walking a new investor such as myself through the process. For any investors looking to invest in the Jacksonville area, I highly recommend him!

Two deals so far, and more to come! Next, my goal is to find a 10-20 unit apartment building to purchase. Breaking into the commercial realm of real estate investing seems quite daunting, but I believe that for Kendall and me, that is the fast track to financial freedom. We’d love to read your comments and any words of wisdom you may have. Thank you!

A page from the House-Hack Chronicles: Just Getting Started!

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