House Hack - Northern Virginia

[Samuel Choi]

Hello everyone! New to the BiggerPockets community and nervous/excited to get started! 

I am looking to buy a single family or townhouse in Northern Virginia to house hack and looking for recommendations/advice. What are the best "rent-by-room" markets in NoVa? I've listed some (that I can afford below) for thoughts/feedback:

1. Reston - Near Silver Line metro and Reston Town Center; Companies setting up shop in Reston
2. Herndon - Upcoming metro (Silver Line); potentially in the "path of progress" once the metro opens
3. Sterling - Nestled between Reston/Herndon areas and Ashburn; another "path of progress" market that's still affordable

In terms of budget, I've received pre-approval for conventional loan with 5% down payment and would be comfortable in the 400k-550k range. Right now, I think my best option would be to look at 3Bed-2.5Bath homes with a finished basement. That way I can rent out the basement as another unit.

If anyone has any advice for a new real estate investor or just want to connect since you're in the DC area, feel free to connect with me!

[Samuel Choi]

Quick update to start off the new year. I was able to close on a property! It hit most of my criteria (4 bed, 3 full bath, ample parking, metro-adjacent) so now working to get the place ready for potential tenants. 

PITI will be 2.65k/mo and hoping to rent out the rooms on the upper level for 2.2k-2.4k/mo. If you add vacancy/repairs/capex it'll be closer to 3.1k/mo, so when I move out I'm estimating that the basement unit can cover that spread. I'll update this forum again when I have "official" rental numbers to report (mostly for my own accountability).

Being a first time homeowner/house hacker I fluctuate wildly between excitement and terror but so grateful for the advice/support of the BP community!