All Forum Posts by: Jerry Cinor

In my opinion house hacking is one of the best and safest way to get into real estate investing. 

Buy a 2-4 unit 

Owner Occupied mortgage (one that you could afford even at 0-50% occupancy)

Try to make it so you live for free by renting the other units. 

Save the $ you would spend on housing for future down payment.

Rinse and repeat until you have as many units as you want and you can buy a SFH for yourself.

Can be great for single people. Those with families often don't want to use this strategy.

@Jerry Cinor

I currently am house hacking, it is a great way to get started if you are able to- 

If you can find a property in your area that works, go for it! 

@Jerry Cinor Depends if you want to live close to your tenants. You'll also need to find a property in a neighborhood you feel comfortable living in. People who have done it eventually move out and rent the unit they once lived in out. Seems to be a temporary situation. Will depend on each individual's comfort level. 

@Jerry Cinor

House hacking is great if you don't mind living in the same vicinity as your tenants. 

You can apply for an FHA loan, and if you are approved you put next to nothing down (3-4% on average). You would also only have to live there for a year after the loan closes.

The only trouble is finding a multifamily property at the right price in todays market. Depending on your area, it may be hard to find, as many are getting into multifamily for the reasons you've stated.

All in all I think that it would make for a great first investment experience for you.

Best of luck! 

Do it.
Pros:
Tenant pays your mortgage
You live for free or at least very cheap
Helps you build a relationship with a bank for future deals if you do financing
Gets the first deal out of the way so you're not scared to keep going.

Cons:
Have to live next to a tenant
Will be hard to separate yourself as the landlord (only matters if you want to be seen as the "manager)

I'm sure others will have things to add too.

@Jerry Cinor Welcome to BP!

My landlord in college was living in his garage, while renting all the rooms in his house. I thought he was nuts. 

After getting my first job, I saved enough money for down payment on my first home and house hacked it ... then  shortly thereafter I bought my first rental, then second ... Haven't stopped.