I want to show you how I was able to put 0% down on a house hack/live-in flip in the Boston metro area…not to toot my own horn, but because I believe that ANYONE can create a good deal when buying a house hack.Deal Backstory: Driving for Dollars, “Farming” and ReferralsFor the past few months, my wife and I have been putting in offers around the Boston metro area only to lose bidding wars with people paying $50k to $100k over asking.

As the seller I would pay for the energy audit, do the analysis on the work to be done (cost vs savings) and then market the home with a prepackaged improvement contract that would meet lender guidelines (solar, EE windows, etc). 45 day close to allow for enough time to do loan and obtain permits, occupancy COE+2. 

There are also online portals from many property management softwares that allow people to pay online. 

I think you have to pay 100$ for reports for other municipalities. 

The caveat with FL is that the tax laws will consider you a STR for paying transient occupancy tax if the occupancy (I believe ) is less than 6 months.

Get bids for what the renovation will cost and determine how you will pay for it if you decide to move forward.Additional questions to consider:  do you know what your unit will rent for?

That said, I will also say that Texans (in general) have had to deal with loads of folks from Cali over the past several years… and well…maybe some have been left with a bad impression.

Now he is saying that it's a "second home" mortgage (higher interest rate) because she won't be living there (but if I buy in MD, we still have to pay the state transfer tax because I have owned in MD before.)

Ultimately I do not want to be over leveraged, stuck paying a high mortgage for extended time, or live in a home that needs work I can’t fund what are your thoughts and recommendations for how I should structure my first purchase?

I have loads of contacts for you and the good- bad and ugly on who is good and who is not!