Glenside, PA · Member since 2018 · 3 posts · 0 votes
Hello everyone!
My husband and I are new investors and we are trying to clean up our financial messes so we can be on our way to financial independence. Before we seriously considered the idea of investing, we made the mistake of purchasing our current home a little over a year ago with an FHA loan. I wish I had heard of househacking before we bought our house :(
Now that we know about it, we're trying to find ways on how we can purchase a duplex to househack and rent out our current home. We put all our previous savings into purchasing and fixing up this house, so at the moment we don't have any cash for down payment towards a duplex.
If you were in our shoes, how would you get financing to purchase the duplex?
Are FHA loans for first time homebuyers only? or can we get another FHA if we live in the next house?
In Ep. 290 (7 paths to Financial Independence) of the Bigger Pockets, around 21:00 into the show, Brandon mentions "You don't have to get a new mortgage, just get a new house." Can anyone expound on that Brandon meant by that?
First option.... Any equity in the house you can possibly access?
Can you 'make do' (even rent an apartment etc) given your family life situation to allow you to rent your house?
Or, can you buy a trailer/camper and live in a wal mart parking lot for half a year?
Do what you need to do to get yourself in a better position in life. Don't worry about other people's opinions, etc - except to the extent that it helps.
Run the numbers. You might be surprised... Will depend on your market, but at the least doing something like this would keep you 'light on your feet' and get you in that proper mindset (be lean, get out of the situation you were in ASAP)
I call it an alarm clock. Make the decision to set the alarm clock, don't let yourself make the decision in the moment to wake up - your alarm clock will do that.
first, treat the decision to buy a new home and the decision to rent the old one as separate. your first decision must be to determine if you should sell or rent the old home. If it is not a cashflowing rental, you should sell it and then use the money to purchase a multi-family. If it cashflows as a rental, then you save up to buy the next place, and then rent out your current home. FHA is not for first time homebuyers, but you cannot hold 2 at once, unless certain circumstances apply. This means next house has to be a conventional loan, unless you sell your current one and payoff the FHA loan. I suggest spending a year learning on the forums and podcasts so you understand the world before diving in.
Thank you for the advice to separate the two decisions. That makes a lot of sense. If we rent our current home, it will definitely cashflow :) I'll prioritize saving up to purchase the next place. Thank you for the info on the FHA loan as well. I've been eating up all the info on the podcasts but haven't been able to spend as much time on the forums. SO much to learn! :)