House Hacking in Austin Texas

[Jack Schlesinger]

Hi everyone :)

This is my first post on BiggerPockets, and I'm very excited to be here!

My name is Jack, and my wife and I are currently living in Israel.

We are planning to move to Austin Texas by the end of this year / beginning of next year. I would like to share a few things on my mind and hope to get some feedback or better to connect with you, and grow my network.

1. Should we move to Austin with a job or without? Obviously with a job is the better option, but landing a job nowadays is harder, and it might take longer than we could hope. We are currently working in Israel, and are able to save money for our downpayment and we don't want to move to Austin using up our savings, not having a job yet.

2. We don't have credit score. Will is be difficult for us to get a loan? Is there a way we can use our Israeli financial credibility to get a loan? If not, how long could it take us to build up some good credit, to lock a loan at a good rate.

3. We want to buy a duplex, and house hack a unit, and rent the other. I'm not sure about good locations we can find one, since there aren't much properties like this that are available to me on Zillow, Realtor, Trulia. What are good locations that are relatively close to the centre (since we'd probably be working there, and also our tenant).What are good areas we should look at? Any recommendations?

I'd appreciate any feedback.

Have a great week!

[Ganessan P.]

@Jack Schlesinger Not sure why are you moving to Austin, TX for job or for fun ??? See my answers/comments below. Austin is a great city, and you will enjoy it other than the heat during the summer days.

1. Moving with Job is the better option. Austin got lot of job opportunities, and you can start applying it.
2. Having the credit score is critical to get a loan. Other options are a) Private money lenders, b) Hard money, c) Buy with your own cash. I would say either way start building the credits. 
3. Northwest Hills, Spicewood forest got some good duplex options and close to the big companies, but hard to come in the market and expensive. Keep an eye on that.  There are some options in Pflugerville as well. It is very hard to find good duplex in Austin area. Also, there are some duplex in South east Austin.

Good luck in your move and soon welcome you to Austin.