All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Not possible if looking for a mortgage.  You can't get into a large multifamily (4+ units) with that little down.

Great book, read it in a few days.  Quick question, where do i watch the webinar?  The email said it would be recorded but I can't find it in the webinar archives.

@Carl Schmitt

That is great to hear.  Thank you so much!

@Carl Schmitt

Yes, that is exactly my strategy. That post is very helpful. Do they add the expected future rents to the DTI ratio as well as the debt of the new mortgage or do they net them? For example, say I have $1350 rent and my mortgage is $1000. Do they add $1350 to my income and $1000 to my debt and then do the DTI calculation, or do they net them, which would add $350 income to my DTI and $0 to my debt side of DTI?

Bump for the evening crowd...even pointing me in the right direction would be helpful. Thanks all!

Hi all,

So I've been doing a lot of reading, including just finishing Set for Life (great book).  Anyway, I plan on using the house hacking strategy to build my portfolio. I am aware that typically I have to stay in the home at least one year, and it will be two years showing up on my tax returns before I can use the income from the half of the duplex that I currently am living in to qualify for a future mortgage.

My question is in what way can this scale so that I can do it every year or so and still qualify for mortgages? How can I use the income of the unit that I am living in to qualify for a mortgage and what does this do to my DTI?

To me it seems like it will always add some to my debt load because the side of the duplex I am vacating will be counted as debt since I'm not currently renting it out (because I live there).  So basically each place I vacate will be counted as debt until I get it filled, which presumably would be after I get the new property. 

What sort of process or strategy have you used to scale a house hacking strategy in building a portfolio? 

No experience with it, but as long as you kind of live at that place a majority of the year, you should be fine. To be safe, I would just make sure I slept there a majority of nights to make sure you are complying with the rules of the FHA Loan. Then again, how would they know where you really sleep or stay during the day? Depends with how closely you want to follow the provisions in your contract. Either way, as long as you don't rent it out, they probably wouldn't notice.

All @Brian Garrett said is correct, you can do that.  Another thing to note however is that your wife may never be as excited as you about it.  That's fine as long as she sees how important it is to you, and the benefits it bestows upon your family.  That would make her more likely to go along with it as a long term en devour (if you plan on house hacking a few more times).

Hi Eugene,

I think the safest bet is to use the Rental Property Calculator here on BiggerPockets.  

A quick rule of thumb is the 2% rule which says that each months rent should be 2% of the mortgage.  In many markets, this may not be doable, but if you can get close to it, it is a way to quickly screen a property.

I agree with everyone saying that you should take into account the return on the real estate vs your interest rate on your student loan. However, your real estate also has the potential to appreciate in value, as well as increase your immediate cashflow (if you get a decent deal). Don't forget to take that into account. Don't just compare ROI vs. the interest rate on your student loans.