New to Real Estate · Schaumburg, IL · Member since 2023 · 23 posts · 18 votes
My friend and I will be transferring to University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign fall 2026 and want to buy a property and rent out the rest of the rooms to fellow students. I am thinking maybe a duplex, but really anything with the most rooms that can fit our budget will work. Does anybody know any good real estate agents within that area? The properties available in that area fitting our criteria are around 200-250k, and we have around 45k combined saved. Using a FHA loan with 3.5% down, is this a feasible goal considering our income will be minimal during the school year?
Sounds like a good idea, minus the partnering with a friend part. House hacking is an awesome strategy, especially with a duplex, but partnerships come with a lot of risk. Add to that you're both in a highly fluid and potentially less mature and more likely to party point in your lives, and you have even more risk.
You can use Zillow to search for realtors and see their reviews and how many properties they're moving. You can use BP too, but to me it seems a little sketchy because the person you reach out to may not me the person that calls you.
You probably can't qualify for a traditionally loan, but call a few lenders and find out. If not, you can look into DSCR loans. The rates are higher, but if you're renting out several rooms it may make sense.