What is the best way to use my VA Home loan?

[Matthew Binns]

Hello Everyone,

I am new to Bigger Pockets, I am 22 yrs old and soon to be U.S Navy vet! My plan is to look for single family/multifamily homes, preferably multifamily, as a long term rental. My plan would be to use my VA home loan for either a duplex or triplex so I can take advantage of paying 0% down and so that I can scale up a lot quicker by having more units. I know that with the VA home loan, whatever property I decide to purchase it will become my primary residence and that I will have to stay there for at least a year. However, I will be moving back in with my parents primarily to save more money. Could I technically just claim the rental as my primary residence even though I am living with my parents and just rent out all of the units? Is there anyone that has done this before? If not, any suggestions as to what I should do as first time investor and new home buyer? Any input or guidance will be very helpful. Thank you, and I am looking forward to networking and getting to know more about real estate investing.

[Chris Pasternak]

Hi thank you for your service. Stop looking for shortcuts. No you shouldn't lie about your home address. And no you shouldn't invest in real estate even if it's a primary residence, you're broke. Why are you moving in with your parents? What is your source of income? How are you going to double that income in the next year? This and only this should be your focus at 22...investing in yourself will have the biggest ROI at your age. Forget playing pretend as a real estate investor.