All Forum Posts by: Monica Young

I think that's a great idea. You should go ahead and pursue it. If banks treat duplexes as single family homes, I wouldn't be surprised if the government does the same. If it's possible, maybe you can inspire others to use their vouchers that way as well. I don't know anything about it personally, but I'd be interested in seeing what your outcome is.

Are you planning on occupying the home you purchase and renting out part of it?

Hi Rob, I'm new around here, and also very glad I found BP. I've become pretty obsessed with listening to BP podcasts myself. I just decided to listen to all of them. I think this community allows people to not get analysis paralysis because we know we have someplace to come and ask questions if we get started on a deal and get stuck or have questions. 

Best of luck to you & I hope to see you around the forum.

I'm sure some of the RE veterans around here will answer, but I would probably start with researching the current rental market in your area. Maybe check out craig's list and see what other people are advertising to rent in the area. That would give you someplace to start. I don't have any experience in being a landlord, but in my area, as a tenant, I've always looked for more bathrooms and bedrooms as a young married professional myself.

Welcome! I'm new as well, but I've been listening to podcasts and reading blog posts here on BP for a few months now. The podcasts are awesome. I've learned so much. You should really check them out if you haven't already.

@Jordan Penor - Good for you for wanting to get started at 19. Real estate wasn't even on my radar at that age. I'm just starting to learn about it now at age 44. I think your loan was probably very close to being approved. You should try again with a different bank. My husband and I just got approved for a conventional loan for our primary residence even though we had a short sale in our credit history that had not quite fallen off of our credit report yet. With a letter of explanation to the bank, we got them to over-look it. I think sometimes it depends on the person you get because other underwriters surely would have thrown out our application. Also, Paul's advice about piecing together employment history sounds like a great idea. 

@Paul Defngin - I know from listening to podcasts here on BP that they use the term house hacking to mean renting out part of your primary residence so that it pays for most or all of your mortgage. It's used quite a bit here.

Here's an update
It's been 6 months. We decided against house hacking. We just couldn't find a multi family in an area we were willing to move to. I might have done this when I was just starting out in life, but we're too old for that kind of living now. Instead, we decided to purchase our own house first for less than what we got approved for, that way we'll still have the buying power to invest. Our new house is new construction townhouse and we love it, but we will probably grow out of it in a few years. The plan is to build our portfolio enough in that time to purchase a bigger home for ourselves and rent this one out.

Congratulations! All of that sounds a little scary, but you made it through. My husband and I are looking for a house hacking deal right now. It seems to be pretty difficult to find in our area, but stories like yours give me hope. Thanks!

Welcome. I'm interested in rental properties as well.  I haven't purchased any yet. I'm still reasearching. Do you rent in the city or county? What's your expected cash flow for properties in Baltimore.

Welcome! Congrats on graduating. I also work downtown Baltimore and listen to Brandon & Josh on my commutes. I like that I can download the podcasts to my phone so I can listen in the tunnel on the metro. There are some great meetups in the Baltimore area. I've gotten a lot of info from them too. You should definitely come out. Best of luck to you.