I think house-hacking a 2-3 unit property is a great way to gain acquisition experience, property management experience, lower your monthly living expenses AND possibly even live for free.Your next step should be to find a local investor-friendly realtor to discuss your goals.You'll then need to get pre-approved by a lender so that you know exactly which areas you can target.After you get that first deal, you can refinance after a year or 2, and move onto the next!

I like the idea of basing my offer relative the worst case scenario, might not close as many as if I were to go higher, but as a beginner I probably need to keep in mind “the fewer I close, probably the more profitable each individual one will be” (the lower my offers are, the lower my close ratio will be).And probably a better place to start, than as if I knew what I was doing. :)Thank you both for your wisdom.Cameron

I can get you much lower for the second year.

Find a double lot, split it and have a lower cost basis each home?   

The goal would be to maintain the curb appeal / authentic look, but at a much lower replacement cost.Thus, I'm looking to find an insurance agent / receive quotes that understand this dynamic.

LOTS Of fake lenders work BP  face book linkdin etc.if you cant find anything on them I suspect you may have run into a fake.the telling clue will be1. rates too good to really be true or lower than industry norm2. too quick to approve you..3. they want a modest deposit up front and give some BS reason why the want it.4. no website ( although many fraudsters have generic websites website alone does not mean anything.5. check on licensing.. there are only about 12 states that require licesnes. not sure about our state thoughBut I would say 95% if you cant find anything on them.. and any of the things I said above are what they are telling you,, cheap rates small up front deposit.. probably not real and you will just lose your 500.00 bucks or whateverOh the other great one is you have to buy an insurance policy because your new or a little weak on the financial side.. there are NO insurance policies for private loans if you fail to pay.. that's just another fraudulent payment to a non exisitant entity.real estate lending has become the new Nigerian prince scam..

HELOCs do have significantly lower closing costs but if you use one for the down payment, you will need to have a method of paying it back relatively quickly. 

The other unit is a 2/1 that was renting for $1,500 (fair market) and the owner lowered to $1,200 for the new tenants, and that rate is locked in for 2 years should they renew the lease. 

I am still waiting to hear back from my attorney for his thoughts, but ultimately feel I will not be able to go until November with the lowered rate, and will provide a timeline for the tenant to get to the terms of the lease.

So you could only receive $50k in your first 6 months of ownership since the LOWER amount is your purchase price.Example 2: If you purchased a home with $80k of cash, put $5k into the home, and the home was worth $100k. 75% would be $75k and your purchase price is $80k…so the lower amount is $75k.My example above does allow me to get 70% of the cost (70% because its Teri plex)immediately, once the renovation is completed (additional cost added to the Settlement statement ) without waiting 6 month.