First Time House Hacking

[Josh Deever]

Hey BP Forums,

I'm 20 years old and looking to purchase my first rental property and house hack it while I'm finishing my last year in college. Right now I'm still living with my parents in East Texas and plan to graduate with a degree in finance in December. I have a little over 20k in savings so I am planning on using an FHA loan with 3.5-4% down if I can for a primary residence and still have some savings left over. I also have about 7k in my Roth IRA that I may liquidate to get a better return on my money with real estate instead of the stock market. My goal is to eventually move to Dallas or Orlando and work for an investment/wealth management firm soon after I graduate. Should I use house hacking as a strategy for a first investment or is there another alternative I could use so that I can stay with my parents and rent out all the rooms?

[JooYung Choi]

Continue building your ROTH. I would only pull money from my ROTH if it was absolutely necessary.

The best loan products out there are for primary residential mortgages. So you should plan to live at the property for a year and house hack. When you leave, you will have 2+ units to your name with some good cash flow. A good strategy I'd recommend is to buy and move to a new primary residence every year to house hack and stack up your portfolio!