Looking to house hack after starting from ground zero - Need any advice

[Nelson Badillo]

I am currently going through a tough time and having to start my real estate journey all over again (Previously had a couple of single family home rentals) after some changes in life. 

With that said, I am considering jumping into a house hack using my VA Loan and then repeating the process every 1-2 years until I can accumulate enough properties to help supplement retiring one day.

I am doing research on the climate of things right now in the market but the reality is I need a new place to live and house hacking seems like the best way to invest my money and lower my monthly overhead costs so I can save money. 

My question is, what is the best approach to house hack these days? Am I better suited getting into a multi-family or a single family home and look at potentially adding value somehow? I value my privacy so not crazy about renting out rooms, but I will if that is what makes most sense in todays market. I have about $50k in liquid cash and again, plan to leverage my VA loan and I have my full entitlement for it.

Any other advice in general would also be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your help and insight. 

[Brandon P.]

Quote from @Nelson Badillo:

I am currently going through a tough time and having to start my real estate journey all over again (Previously had a couple of single family home rentals) after some changes in life. 

With that said, I am considering jumping into a house hack using my VA Loan and then repeating the process every 1-2 years until I can accumulate enough properties to help supplement retiring one day.

I am doing research on the climate of things right now in the market but the reality is I need a new place to live and house hacking seems like the best way to invest my money and lower my monthly overhead costs so I can save money. 

My question is, what is the best approach to house hack these days? Am I better suited getting into a multi-family or a single family home and look at potentially adding value somehow? I value my privacy so not crazy about renting out rooms, but I will if that is what makes most sense in todays market. I have about $50k in liquid cash and again, plan to leverage my VA loan and I have my full entitlement for it.

Any other advice in general would also be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your help and insight. 

 Hello Nelson, 

House hacking in a SFR is a great idea, as it is the cheapest barrier of entry. This is the cheapest method and the most lucrative with the money you have in Florida. The con, as you mentioned would be sharing space in your house if you rent by the room. I do this now and we rent each room for $850 and $800 = $1650 a month, this pays my mortgage. If you do this with a duplex for example, you are looking more at something like living in one of the units while renting the other side out for $1200-$1500 a month. You will have privacy, but you won't have much flexibility in your renting potential, as you will only have 1 of 1 units to rent out. On the contrary if you find a house with 4 bedrooms, you have one room to live and 3 of 3 rooms to rent out, meaning if you only can fill 2 of 3 at one moment you still have some rent money coming in. Say those rooms rent for $800 each, this means you will still have $1600 coming in that month instead of one duplex unit not renting out equating to $0 in rent but a lot of privacy.

The question really boils down to, how much is your privacy worth to you in this moment of life? 

DM if you want to talk more. 

Best, 

Brandon