House Hacking Advice (Washington D.C, Nova, Baltimore Area)

[Timothy Lawrence]

Hello All,

Today is the day I decided to upgrade myself from being a lurker to being an actual poster. For some background info, I am 22 years old, and I graduated college in May 2024 with my bachelor's in construction management. I am currently employed as a project engineer working for a GC that builds multi-family projects. Being a curious person, I gained an interest in real estate investing due to other classmates being interested in real estate. I completed an internship in commercial real estate, and I also attended a couple of local REIA meetings/networking events before moving to Northern VA.

I was able to narrow down potential strategies, and I figured both BRRR as well as wholesaling don't seem to be the best strategies for me. House hacking seems like the best strategy for me.

My goal is to purchase a single-family home in Maryland, D.C, (from lurking I've heard D.C was terrible for investing) or Virginia with multiple rooms where I'm making monthly payments similar to what I pay in rent and other charges ($2000-$2500). In other words, I can afford the house with or without tenants. I can put up with a 1-hour work commute or a little more if it means having a house in a decently safe area.

Other Info:

Credit Score: 700s (due to student loan payments)

Monthly Income: $4600

Work Location: I commute to Northern Virginia and D.C

Guys, I could really use your help or recommendations on what you would do if you were in my situation:

Location: I'm thinking somewhere in PG County MD due to my commute, like Hyattsville MD. I could market the property to UMD College Park Students. Any other recommended towns or locations? (Areas around an hour or less away from D.C that people would live in)

I'm sure there are people who live further in Virginia and probably commute in Northern VA or D.C. Where might some of those people live?
 

Financing: I'm confident I can put $10,000 down as a down payment within the next year. Do you know any FHA Lenders in the area? If, so please recommend any. What other kinds of loans or financing strategies are available that don't involve using too much of your own cash? Have you ever taken out a loan to afford the down payment for a mortgage and do you know of any lenders that offer that?

Or is it silly to take action in that regard and just save enough cash? For example, more downpayment means less interest rate regardless or whatever loan.

I am trying to see what sort of action I can take right now so I can plan detailed and measured steps to my goal. If it's not feasible due to circumstances I suppose I'll have to adjust my situation (find weekend job, move back to NJ with parents, move to a different state with, etc.)

All responses are appreciated, and I am absolutely open to chatting on the phone by the way.

[Greg W.]

Buy in an area you want to live and renting to the people you want to rent to. Do you want to rent to college students when you are 30? That's some people's niche and it works for them. Is that you? You could rent to young professionals or to families. I would buy in the best area you can afford, to hopefully get appreciation over time. Buy where people want to be. If you can buy a fixer in a great area, that's even better. Also look at the rental laws in the areas you are considering, just so you understand what you are getting into and whether you are OK with them or not.