All Forum Posts by: Ruby Lee

Is there any reason to do an FHA loan with 3.5% vs. a 3% convention loan for the downpayment?

Hi everyone! I'm looking to buy my first home soon on the east-side (Redmond, Bellevue, Kirkland, Bothell). Been learning about house hacking but I think it can be hard to cashflow or break-event here with the interest rates so high, and I'm not familiar with the rental market either on the east-side if I were to get a quadruplex, for example. Wanted to come on here to get people's thoughts on what kind of first property I should buy if I want to maximize financial value and to dip my toes into real estate investing. 

Basically, I'm looking for a property that has good appreciation but also good rentability. Based on my research, seems like it's ideal to get a house + rent out the basement. However, those properties are a tad out of my price range (I have around 127k to work with). I'm thinking of getting a townhouse either in Kirkland (Totem Lake, Juanita) or Bothell, and looking for ones that have en suite bathrooms to rent out. Not looking into condos since I've heard they don't appreciate as well. 

Is this a good idea, or should I try and go higher (use a FHA loan) to get a house and rent out 3 rooms but risking needing to cover the payments if I can't find renters? Also I'd like your thoughts on renting out rooms with shared bathroom and how hard that can be in this area since I found a great townhouse in a great location but the upstairs is 2BR/1BA.

Thanks in advance!