Did I make a mistake purchasing this home?

[Lee V.]

Hi all,

I purchased my first property earlier this year. It is a triplex set up. However, it’s quite Unique. It’s 3 single family homes (bungalow style) on one piece of land. The homes do not share any walls. I’m living in the main home and renting the 2 others out. The property is in an up and coming area” of Houston. 3 miles from downtown. Lots of older homes around but new town homes being built all around. 

Now onto the numbers.

I bought this home for $243,000. I went with an fha Loan with 4.5% interest and 3.5% down payment. 

My mortgage is $1,812.00. I currently rent one of my homes for $900 and the other for $700 respectively. If I were to rent the main home that I’m living in too, it would rent for about $1200-$1300 or so, market value. 

My question is... did I do well on this deal? Or was it a bad deal? I figured, it’s not so bad since my rental income is covering most of my mortgage note. Since I’m living in one of the units, it’s like living for free practically. 

What are your thoughts on this deal?? 

[Derek Luttrell]

You're living very cheaply, which is the whole idea. I house hack and have 87% of my monthly housing paid for by other people, and it's amazing how much faster my savings is able to grow because of it. However, if you're able to, I would suggest living in one of the cheaper units yourself in order to fully capitalize on the revenue opportunity. If you lived in the $700 unit and rented your unit for $1200, you would have your mortgage covered, and then some.