Financing my 1st House Hack

[Benjamin Sulka]

I just got engaged with my girlfriend but we are not yet married. 

She is 100% on board with starting our real estate investing journey and we are buying our first multifamily to house hack in the coming months. 

Here is my situation. 

I'm 23 and just graduated college so my DTI is a bit higher than I'd like it to be. This limits the amount of $ I can qualify for individually. I could definitely buy a multifamily by myself but it would be in a less desirable area that we might not feel as comfortable living.

On the flipside, if we got the loan together, it would open us up to most of the B-A neighborhoods that we would rather live in. 

I know that going on the loan in my own name would allow me to put more loans under my belt in the future before we get married and become one unit. 

What route would you take? What are your thoughts? 

-Ben, aspiring multifamily house hacker 

[Matthew Porcaro]

Congrats on your engagement!

That's great that she's on board. House hacking is for sure the best way to get into real estate investing (in my humble opinion)

If you combining your incomes puts you where you want to be, I'd do that. Remember, although FHA only allows one loan under your name at any given time, Fannie Mae allows 11.

With the new guidelines that came out with Fannie Mae back in November, you can now put 5% down on up to a 4-unit property with conventional mortgages. 

So essentially, if you use that loan product, you wont have to worry about "using up" your low down payment loan quota. You and your fiance can do it together over and over (as long as you financially qualify and fit the guidelines)

Hope this alleviates your concern!