Timing will make a big difference leasing this SFH in Seattle— if possible, aim for your vacancy to hit the market ~May 15th to June 15th, maximizing time on market for a June / July lease start date— this will give you the largest tenant pool, lowest vacancy time & highest rent.

However, from my experience working with 400+ investors, there are still ways to maximize returns.

Should I just save that additional tuition money and put that towards my first investment? 

I would like to maximize value.

With the FHA loan you won't need a huge amount of your savings.

So if you are anticipating higher rents and therefore higher income next year you may want to wait till then if you are trying to maximize the amount of the cash out refi.

One way to save some money, especially if you are local is to split the job. 

@Tanner KingWhen I analyze a house hack deal, I focus on metrics like GRM, Cap Rate, Cash Flow, House Hack Savings, and Future Rent Potential.

Hey @Erika Andersen I totally hear you in wanting to save some money and taking on the task yourself.

to save costs, and responses sometimes took weeks.