house hacking in south florida

[Nick Robinson]

Hello BiggerPockets community!

This is my first post and i would like to start out saying I'm extremely excited to be a part of this community and to start my real estate investing career!! I'm 24 years old and I'm looking to house hack down in sunny south florida. I'm trying to spend around 160k and rent out the other rooms but I'm having a hard time finding homes. does anyone know what to look for to house hack around this area. (hoping for a small multifamily home or a single family) I'm using a FHA loan as well. Would foreclosures or preforeclosues be a better option for me? anything helps thanks!!

[Alan A.]

Nick,

One place you might want to check out is Homepath.com

It is a government subsidized program that is excellent for first time buyers.
Because the market is pretty hot right now, you may get outbid if you are going FHA, especially if the deal is good and other investors are looking. A lot of sellers will shy away from FHA in favor of conventional or cash offers because of the additional appraisal and inspection requirements involved.

Homepath, however, offers "First Look" properties, where they give priority to people like yourself who intend to occupy the unit. The first 2 weeks or so that a property is listed can only be bid on by owner-occupants. So long as you are not low-balling, and your offer is reasonable, they are pretty much forced to accept, as the program's very existence is intended to support home-ownership. If an investor paying cash and waiving contingencies wants to outbid you by $23483K, your bid will still win if it is within the First Look period, so long as you sign an owner-occupant disclosure. Of course, you must be qualified and not be outbid by other owner-occupants. They will even contribute a percentage toward your closing costs. I have seen some multifamily available as well. 

Remember: anything 4 units or less is still considered residential, where anything above 4 units is considered commercial, and FHA won't get you far.