First-Time Buyer Considering House Hack in Southern Connecticut

[Daniel Schwartzberg]

Hi! I’m a new member of the BiggerPockets community and wanted to make a post to introduce myself, and to ask a couple of questions that I’m hoping the collective knowledge of the BP community might be able to help me with. I'm a relatively new resident of Connecticut, having moved here last year for a new teaching position. Since I'll be staying in the area for the foreseeable future, I’m currently researching options for purchasing a house hack in one of the southern areas of Connecticut. I teach in Westport, and the general area in which I’m looking to purchase is Fairfield County. Specifically, the areas about which I've done the most research in terms of multifamily properties are the Black Rock and North End neighborhoods of Bridgeport, and certain neighborhoods in Norwalk. My hope as of now is to purchase either a duplex or triplex, and to live in one unit while renting out the remaining one or two. Eventually, so long as things go well, I think I’d hold onto the property I purchase so that I could continue to rent it out after I move to a different area or find a different property in which I’d live.

If anyone’s willing to share, I’d really appreciate any thoughts from those who are or have previously been investors in Connecticut, and/or live in or near the Fairfield area, as to your impressions of those neighborhoods I mentioned, and if there are other neighborhoods where I’m not currently looking that you’d recommend checking out. I’d also be grateful for any other general advice that you might be willing to share with a first-time home buyer who is also looking to make that purchase an owner-occupied investment property. For instance, I’ve been looking into first-time homebuyer programs through the CHFA (like their down payment assistance program or other loan products), so if anyone in the CT community knows or has experience with CHFA, I’m all ears. Thanks very much for taking the time to read this, and for any thoughts anyone’s willing to post. I'm excited to be a part of the BiggerPockets community, and I've already been learning a great deal from the advice and experiences you all share.