Beginning in Southern California

[Ryan Chinnici]

Any advice about house hacking specific to California? Los Angeles?

The FHA info I've seen seems to indicate that it must be a single family home... Any advice or professionals in the area?

[KJ L.]

You can get an FHA loan on a property between 1-4 units; owner occupancy is required though. Downpayment can be as low as 3.5% and they will use either the lease agreement rents or 75% of average rents for the vacant units + your income to verify your ability to cover debt repayment. We used FHA to purchase our duplex in South LA. You will need to have some cash reserves to cover a certain number of P&I/tax/insurance/PMI payments (I believe 6 months but double check with a lender). If you do put down less than 20%, you are possibly subject to PMI depending on LTV however you can refinance out of the PMI later on when/if your property appreciates in value enough or your loan balance decreases enough. Hope this helps