My wife and I are looking to house hack as well, hopefully purchasing within the next year and raising our kids (#2 due in november) while building some equity and preparing for future investing.

Since you're on here, do you plan on REI for the future?

@Daniel BrownWelcome to BP, and congratulations on making the decision to invest in your future via real estate.I have written a few blog posts that may help you get started here on BP, and with your investing.

@Allan BuriasWelcome to BP, and congratulations on making the decision to invest in your future via real estate.I have written a few blog posts that may help you get started here on BP, and with your investing.

The biggest mistake I see is a lack of understanding of how much capex is needed in future years.

Even the lowest priced house still needs to offer any future resident safety and this area can lead to various very undesirable legal liabilities for the owner/seller.

your lender will require it.. any future buyer will require it.. its a cheap cost of doing business before you get all cranked up and waste a ton of time and effort.my SOP to buy property is one.get it in contract.. waste of time doing anything else until that happens.then order title report next day.. in our state we have it back in 48 hours or less.. 

@J MacArthurBuying a home you wish to live in in the future with your IRA likely does not make sense.The only way you can use that home personally is to take the home out of the IRA as a distribution in-kind at the present value when you take the distribution.So, if the IRA purchases a home as an investment today for $100K, and 5 years down the line that home is worth $125K, then when you take a distribution, you are taking out $125K all at once and will get hammered on taxes. 

@Ross Hewitt IIIWelcome to BP, and congratulations on making the decision to invest in your future via real estate.I have written a few blog posts that may help you get started here on BP, and with your investing.

I'm definitely keeping tabs on future Miami events though!