House Hacking w/ USDA loan in NJ.

[Barry Porch]

Hello,

I'm just starting on my real estate journey, and house hacking seems to be the best way to get my feet wet. I live in an area where I can get a USDA loan; however, I'm not sure how I can do this and house hack as one of the requirements for the Single-Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program is that it cannot be an income-producing property. My plan was to rent out rooms in the unit to offset my costs for the first year; then, move out and rent out my room as well to make the unit cash flow positive. Am I misunderstanding how the USDA loan works, or should I just go with an FHA loan?