Living in My Investment

[James Trobaugh]

Hello, this is my first time on Bigger Pockets. I've been fascinated with real estate for nearly a year and made a promise to myself that I would own my first multi-family at the beginning of 2025 and utilize my current time to look for deals and educate myself. My question is, to finance my first property, should I finance it under an FHA and live in one of the units for the year? Or should I break my promise to get into real estate in 2025 and continue to work part-time while going to college to afford a conventional 30-year mortgage on my first SF and use the "Building Wealth Through Single-Family Homes" plan?

[Kyle Spearin]

@James Trobaugh in either situation, you could use an FHA loan. There are also conventional 5% down loans--it's not just 20% down. Being a college student, you could house hack a single family if you wanted to have roommates, or you could house hack a multi-family.

Given that you're just starting to learn, I would highly recommend talking to lenders and real estate agents in your area. Tell them what your goals are and see if they are willing to help educate you through the process. You can also reach out to people on biggerpockets who are doing what you want to do.

The more people you talk to, the more you'll learn!