@Bianca Nunes
Hi Bianca! You are actually the first one to trip my key word alerts ever, and since everyone in this discussion has hit at least one of my words my message board is now lighting up like a Christmas tree, so I owe you for that one!
I actually just moved here a few months ago from San Diego and had the exact same dilemma. I happened to stumble on a solution that worked for me, and I hope my experience helps you on your journey!
I found a townhouse (that they seem to still call a condo around here) for $309,000. It is a 3 bd/2 bth in Woodbridge with an unfinished basement, I closed on it, moved in and am in the process of getting a roommate to house hack.
The renovation in the basement is a manageable learning experience for me and you will have to make the assessment of what first level of renovation project works for you.
Some lessons learned from my perspective:
- Because you are living in it I would think about the level of live-in renovation required you want to deal with. I originally thought my tolerance was higher but after some serious looking I reconsidered to a more modest level based on how busy your schedule looks like.
- After a lot of pouring over the MLS and Zillow I settled on Woodbridge VA. If you can find a fairly good deal your mortgage payment on a townhouse is not bad, but I personally recommend putting in the 20-25% since it is your first property to give yourself a decent pool of equity to pull from later.
- I would reach out to a good real estate agent if you have not already, I found one day beat touring from house to house in the surrounding areas beat literally months on the MLS analyzing (yes I kind of did get caught in analysis paralysis) really crystallized my focus on what I really wanted out of my first live-in/househack/future rental. That's not to mention the local area experience they provide that allows you to leverage sometimes decades of their hard work.
- Around Woodbridge if you go under 300 it is very difficult to find a decent property that will meet both criteria for house hacking and qualify for a conventional loan and under 250 would be a very tough sell. My suggestion if you do choose that area that you look above there.
I wish you the best of luck and am really interested in what you might find going through this same process. Later in the year I will be doing this again to find a pure rental. I hope my lessons help you in your first step in your investment journey and from one “newbie” to another wish you the absolute best!
-Sean
