Hi BP,

My name is Anh and I'm graduating from UCSD in two months! I've been a long time fan of BP after reading Brandon Turner's books on rental investing and no/low money down financing several years ago, but haven't been able to put much into practice besides accumulating money through internships/part-time jobs. My long term goals is single or multifamily houses to become financially independent (like every other aspiring graduate xD).

After I graduate I plan to hang out in the San Diego area, hopefully find a property to house-hack (though I realize that multifamilies are crazy expensive, so I'm looking for alternatives). My starting job will pay ~70k ish, I have 750+ credit score, no student loans, and ~30k in retirement/brokerage accounts. According to online mortgage calculators and the rule of thumb that banks want debts to be below 40% of income, I may qualify for a ~350-400k mortgage? (Don't want to apply for a hard inquiry yet). However, my tax returns are pretty low, and from my understanding mortgage lenders scrutinize on your past 2 years.

Does anyone have any advice on how to either house hack or buy my first rental property in San Diego? I'm pretty flexible where to live as my job can be remote, but am worried about finding a well-priced home to rent/house-hack. I've been looking at FHA loans but don't understand whether I would qualify without 2 years of employment.

Thanks for your advice, and looking forward to being active in this community!