Seeking Full Duplex Deals for House Hacking within 30min distance to Downtown Orlando

[Tej Ash]

Hello BP community, I'm currently in the process of searching for a full duplex within a 30-minute commute to Orlando Downtown, with a budget of $400K. Despite setting up alerts on Zillow, Redfin, and realtor.com, as well as utilizing alerts through realtors, I am consistently facing challenges in finding suitable deals. 

I am seeking insights and recommendations from the community regarding potential locations in and around Orlando where full duplexes might be more readily available within my budget.

My plan is to house hack, and based on my initial calculations, I anticipate an extra expense of $1.5K beyond rental income to cover the mortgage. I am interested in knowing if this strategy remains viable in 2024. If not, what alternative strategies would you recommend?

[Shawn McCormick]

Quote from @Tej Ash:

Quote from @Shawn McCormick:

@Tej Ash The shortage of quality inventory in multi-family is not going to get better in the Orlando metro area. There are never more than 25-30 properties available in the MLS at any given time. And out of those, most are over $400k, in bad areas, need updating, aren't 'real' duplexes or are 70 years old...sometimes all of those things are true on a property. We just don't have that much of them, so I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for a unicorn, because when one does hit the market, there are 1,000's of others waiting for the same thing and many are cash buyers.

Not trying to be a downer, but I have 30-40 clients all wanting that, and I'm just one agent and have been down this road with so many investors. I would consider another market or at least go further out than 30 minutes. You can find some down in Polk county, some in Volusia, and once in a while in Lake or Osceloa, but even then they will come with issues. 

Best of luck!

Thank you, Shawn! Your answer was helpful. As a first-time homebuyer, I aim to venture into real estate through house hacking a duplex. If that option is ruled out, what alternatives do I have?

 You can still buy a single family and rent out rooms. There are several builders in the area now building multi-generational homes now. Or go the route of buying a single family, doing some upgrades, live in it for at least 12 months and a day and then pull out some equity to go buy another and rent that one out. Don't get stuck on one formula, your path may take a little longer, but don't give up just find another route.