House Hacking for W2 employee with lower income getting financing

[Timson Sunny]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to house hack a home soon to start investing in real estate. I currently work full-time in recruiting. I've been with my company for 8 months now. I'm also a real estate agent and was doing it full-time before until business slowed down for me. I originally got my license to understand the real estate industry better and take advantage of the benefits of my license when purchasing deals. I now decided now is the year for me to start investing and house hacking makes sense for me at this time. I looked into different financing options and decided that the Navy federal home buyers' choice program would be the best option for me at this time. I plan to take advantage of the no down payment option with no PMI. I would only have to cover the closing cost which I know typically is 2-3% of the purchase price. The hurdle that I have is my company is only paying me a base salary of $45k and I haven't been in the industry for more than 2 years. I want to get approved for at least $265k-$300k but I doubt that's possible with my income. I was thinking of getting a Co-borrower but I would rather not have one. Any suggestions?

Thank you,

Timson Sunny

[Lawrence Potts]

Quote from @Timson Sunny:

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to house hack a home soon to start investing in real estate. I currently work full-time in recruiting. I've been with my company for 8 months now. I'm also a real estate agent and was doing it full-time before until business slowed down for me. I originally got my license to understand the real estate industry better and take advantage of the benefits of my license when purchasing deals. I now decided now is the year for me to start investing and house hacking makes sense for me at this time. I looked into different financing options and decided that the Navy federal home buyers' choice program would be the best option for me at this time. I plan to take advantage of the no down payment option with no PMI. I would only have to cover the closing cost which I know typically is 2-3% of the purchase price. The hurdle that I have is my company is only paying me a base salary of $45k and I haven't been in the industry for more than 2 years. I want to get approved for at least $265k-$300k but I doubt that's possible with my income. I was thinking of getting a Co-borrower but I would rather not have one. Any suggestions?

Thank you,

Timson Sunny

Are you a veteran or are family member of one?

Depending on what you were doing previous to your recruiting job, you may still be able to qualify. If you were in school previously, they may allow for just a few months of work history up to one year if your work is in the industry you studied. If you worked previous to this current job, they will allow that work history as well as long as you didn't change industries. The biggest thing they want to see is consistency in your work history (consistent work industry = job security and safety = more likely to not miss a mortgage payment).

If you haven't yet, talk to their lenders and see what you can get approved for and how to improve your approval.

Co-borrowers are very helpful, but are limited in usage depending on the loan you are using. Some are only allowed for occupying members (someone that is going to live in the home with you). Others allow for non-occupying co-borrowers.

Hope that helps!