Housing hacking partnership

[Jordan Batchelor]

I live in San Diego (high-priced market ) and am currently house-hacking. I am looking for another house hack here locally, but I’d also like to invest in lower price point areas out-of-state. I’m not a fan of dropping a 20-25% down payment, so I have been thinking about looking for partners in those types of markets that are in the position to house hack.

What are everyone's thoughts?

[Jordan Batchelor]

Quote from @Matthew Hoffman:

Can anyone help me understand the residence requirement and what kind of loan it's tied to? I'm sure someone has written about this on the forums. I'm looking at a 3plex in my area and am wondering what I'd technically need to do to meet the residence requirement, as well as whether there are any tips re how to manage those.

I'm sure folks have written about this stuff before, but I'm relatively new here and hoping someone can point me in the right direction!

Hey Matthew, I'm not a lender but I've read into this a bit. From what I've learned, residency requirements are for primary residence loans (conventional and FHA). People use conventional loans for non-primary residence properties but are required to put down 20-25% and have higher interest rates. Primary residence loans can get you 3-5% down and lower interest rates (with PMI). To meet the requirements you usually sign a paper saying you intend to occupy the property within 60 days of purchase and at least 12 months. The key is intend. If you are in the position to move locations (I'm talking hours away from your initial purchase) because of life circumstances like job changes, family, or something else along those lines then it's no biggie. What you cannot do is buy a place as a primary residence, then go buy another place 10 minutes away in 6 months. With that being said, I have heard that you can do it under the 12-month mark if life circumstances change. For example, If you bought a triplex made up of all 1bed/1bath's then in the next month or so you get married and your spouse is pregnant, you might be able to show that you need a bigger space to live in and be approved to buy another property within your area.