Buying a house at 23 (House-Hacking/low money down)

[Janosch Spohner]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence other investment.

Purchase price: $246,000
Cash invested: $10,000
Sale price: $246,000

I bought this house as a Primary Residence for my GF and I to live in. We are doing the most basic of house hacks, renting out 2 of the rooms which does not cover everything but it has made our living expenses super cheap for North of Atlanta. My GF and I split what is left after the rental income which is about $300/month, utilities included. It's very hard to find a decent apartment around here for under $1,000/month so we are super happy with it so far.

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

The bigger pockets podcast talks about House-Hacking frequently but also Graham Stephens YouTube channel talks about it which is where I think I heard of it first.

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

A friends mom was a Real Estate Agent and helped us find the home, we didn't do too much negotiating, it was listed at $250k, we offered $240k and ended up meeting at $246k where the sellers paid closing costs.

How did you finance this deal?

We used an FHA loan where we put 3.5% down, I didn't actually have enough for the down payment so my dad lent me money to cover that which I will have paid back to him in full by the end of next year.

How did you add value to the deal?

We are slowly doing some upgrades to the house and yard that might add value to the right person but really this house was turnkey, ready to live in and we are just letting our room mates help us cover the costs. We are not really looking to add that much to the house.

What was the outcome?

I have lived here for about 8 months now and it has been amazing. We save a ton of money on living expenses, we are building equity, we are enjoying the house with the big yard & Garage. My girlfriend is looking to get into a medical school in the next 2 years though so this house will likely end up as my first single family rental while I try to House Hack a duplex or triplex near whatever med school she gets into.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Just learned a ton about real estate in general, financing, inspections, all that stuff. I have never been exposed to any of that so it's been awesome and I am looking to continue learning as I keep growing every year both financially and as a person.

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

Nilma Baez was the agent that we used although she only works with sellers now. The inspection was done by Dana Home inspections and I thought they did a great job.