Hey BP'ers,

I am new to real estate investing and for my first project, I would like to house hack a MFH with a FHA loan in the Metro Atlanta, GA area. My question is should I avoid foreclosures, or listing sites such as realtor.com, zillow.com, etc..

I know I'm looking for the deal rather than the house, but given my lack of experience. Should I stay away from locations I have to rehab or sites that would give not as fruitful deals.

How comfortable are you doing work? How much cash do you have? Distressed properties are a great way to add value and skyrocket your wealth... but only if you have the free capital to go over budget when something inevitably goes wrong.

@Nick Giulioni I have a very strong family connection experienced with rehabbing. This way would be slower to actually complete the process but is also sharing knowledge with me. 

I do not have much saved up capital, which is why I was going FHA route with only 3.5% down. I was purposely trying to utilize OPM.

What would you suggest the safest route? Since it's only my first deal, I am not focused on profit. (of course I do not want to lose money), but I am just looking for experience to develop my process.

Hey - given that you don't have much saved up - rehabbing means that you are going to be doing a lot of labor. If you are cool with that - go that direction. If this is your first deal and you are more worried about getting on base than hitting a home run, I'd do something that allows you to house hack, reduce your housing expense, and work on your next flip.