House Hacking Long Island, NY

[Natalie Weyant]

Hello BP Community!

SO happy to have found this platform and very excited to get started in my path to financial freedom! I am looking for some advice and guidance and I believe this is the right place to start! 

I work as a full time nurse and make decent income, my boyfriend work for the LIRR. We are looking to house hack in Long Island NY, specifically Suffolk county around the Ronkonkoma area. Unfortunately it is extremely expensive to live here even with an FHA and my bf and I are unable to relocate at the moment. My question is, would you suggest house hacking in this area? Or is it not worth it because of how expensive the housing prices are here?

I have also been contemplating buying a coop/condo instead with an FHA loan. Monthly payments would be much cheaper and I would be able to save enough to invest elsewhere. I have a family member who is a real estate investor full time and doesn't live here, they offered to help me invest where they live.

Any advice would be greatly appreciative, thank you in advance! :)

[Joshua Filkill]

@Natalie Weyant The idea of house hacking is to eliminate your housing expense while also purchasing a property that can be a future investment. It can absolutely be tough to purchase a house in such an expensive market so you'll need to weigh the costs of the money you're paying to rent a place and not be tied to it or responsible for keeping the place up vs. buying an investment property to live in and use rent to supplement your income while taking on the responsibility of managing a house. 

I found it beneficial to buy because the rent from my other unit and bedroom covered by mortgage and also the house works as an investment once I move out. As for the condo/coop someone from your area will be better equipped to answer that, but in my area I typically advise against that.  

Talk to local lenders, don't get stuck on the idea of just using an FHA. There should be plenty of other owner occupy and down payment assistance programs out there in your area.