17 years old looking to house hack with dad

[Dalton Long]

Hello, I'm currently 17 living with my father and sister. mom is split and is living on her own (out of the picture). Once my twin sister is gone to college I plan on house hacking a four-plex with the conventional 3.5% down on a FHA loan while my father lives with me. With the goal to slowly start to grow my real-estate portfolio. However, since I am underage and have no credit history, I won't be able to get a loan (I have around $1,000 in cash). would anyone have any advice for me when starting out? also how did you guys start building your network when just starting out? any type of input is extremely helpful as my only goal until I turn 18 is to learn as much as I can. thank you!

[Clayton Silva]

Hey Dalton, this is a great idea and awesome that you are already thinking about this.  Here are some suggestions for where to start.

1) Consider a conventional loan over FHA if you are going to do this in DC area. FHA has a self-sustainability rule for 3-4 unit properties that makes it almost impossible to get FHA financing in high-cost areas like DC, California, etc. Conventional financing will let you do a 4 unit with 5% down without the self-sustainability rule.

2) Consider opening up 1 or 2 credit cards that you can qualify for to start building credit.  Use them wisely (I recommend paying the balance off every 2 weeks but that is just how I built my credit personally). 

3) Get a job ASAP.  If you are just starting out and want to qualify soon, you have two options. Option 1: get a full time salaried position with an offer letter.  Option 2: if the only jobs available to you are variable/hourly/1099 then you'll need 2 years of income history.  

4) Drive the neighborhoods you want to live in and start understanding the areas, which ones are up and coming, price points, desirability, etc.  Get to know the tenant/landlord laws and start to network with investors and property managers.  

Hope these help and feel free to ask any lending related question you have and I can answer them!