All Forum Posts by: Davion Smith

Both options work, but it depends on your situation:

• VA Loan (House Hack): Wait to return and use your VA loan to buy a multifamily, live in one unit, and rent the others. It offers low/no down payment and lower rates, ideal for hands-on management.
• DSCR Loan (Long-Distance): Start now by using a DSCR loan, qualifying based on the property's income. It requires a higher down payment and remote management, which can be harder without a strong team.

House hacking with a VA loan is better for hands-on management; DSCR is great if you're ready to start from a distance.

From a tax perspective, if you intend to qualify as REPS or have material participation in STR, being overseas will prevent that.

My first question would be how long do you plan to be overseas? Is it a term commitment or are you just employed with a company until you choose to leave or move on? The reason I ask you this is because if you're overseas for several years, that is potentially wasted time as time is the most valuable resource you won't ever get back. You can find a rental property and secure it via conventional loan or dscr, either way both you'll need around 20%, and let it do its thing until you get back stateside. You can then find a multi unit that at least has one vacant unit so you can utilize your VA loan. Now, you have an appreciated first rental that's hopefully generating cash flow, and a multi unit that provides a roof over your head and 1-3 units paying down your mortgage while all units continue to appreciate. Hope this helps and provides a different view point

You should definitely wait until you get back and house hack with your VA loan. Your VA loan may allow you to do that and buy more properties at the same time, but you want to learn from your house hack first instead of trying to manage from out of the country.

As your first investment, I recommend waiting until you get back to the states. You can use your VA loan at that time.

I'm active duty Air Force with four properties. Three are with the VA loan.

Take your time. Real estate investing is a long game.

I wish you all the best.