Have 50k and i want to house hack in nyc . How would i do it ?

[Faysal Alam]

I am now 24 years old , I am currently paying about $900 a month not including food, gas, etc . I have about 15k in the bank another 30k in cash and about 8.5k in stocks and 5.5k in my Roth IRA . So all in all about 59k . The problem is I want to house hack , but my w2 income is about 19k and about another 20k is tips . I want to house hack in queens (Hollis,Jamaica, Queens villege) . I have a friend with 30k w2 income who is willing to co-sign me . My question is , how would I go about doing a house hack ? Ideally I’d move to a 2 family with a basement apartment so 3 units , and live cheap to free while building equity . A home here would be 400-700k in areas I’m looking . How can I do this ? Help !!!

[Jaysen Medhurst]

@Faysal Alam, you probably need to move.

Even if you did an FHA loan, which allows for a low down payment and consideration of 75% of rent, I think you'll have trouble qualifying for conventional financing with your salary, especially when so much is tips. Typically, lenders want your mortgage payments to be less than 1/3 of your gross monthly salary.

A co-signer might work, but "a friend" isn't going to be very convincing to a lender. Especially one who makes less than you do. 

Look outside the city. If you're a server, there are plenty of restaurant jobs out there.

Sorry to be negative, but you have to realistic. Keep posting your ideas and the community will be willing help you sort out a plan. There's always a way, you just need to be creative and willing to make sacrifices.

Separate issue, why do you have $45k in the bank/cash and only $8500 in stocks? Leave $5-10k in the bank for an emergency fund and put the rest in low-cost index funds. Get your money to work.