HOUSE HACKING- Savannah, GA

[Account Closed]

Hey everyone,

I’m pretty new to actually buying real estate, but I’ve been learning as much as I can over the past year and I’m serious about building long-term wealth through rentals.

I’m finishing up college (about 1.5 years left) and currently serving tables while saving aggressively. After graduation, I’ll be moving to Savannah, GA to work full-time for my dad’s business. My girlfriend and I are planning to house hack a duplex as my first property and ideally hold it long term.

I know Savannah is very historic, and from what I’ve seen a lot of the duplex inventory is older. I understand older properties can come with maintenance and capital expense risks, so I’m trying to be realistic about what I’m stepping into.

By the time I move, I expect to have around $55k–$65k saved.

I’m trying to think through the smartest way to structure my first deal. On one hand, putting 20% down on a lower-cost duplex to eliminate PMI seems safer from a monthly payment perspective. On the other hand, I’ve also considered putting 5–15% down on a more updated property, keeping stronger reserves, and accepting PMI in exchange for less immediate renovation risk.

Since I’ll be working Monday through Friday, I’m also wondering how much weight I should put on condition versus down payment percentage. I don’t mind light improvements, but I don’t want to underestimate the time commitment of a heavy fixer as a first-time investor.

My goal isn’t a quick flip or short-term win — I’m thinking long-term portfolio building and would love for this to be the first of several properties over time.

For those who’ve invested in Savannah or done a first house hack, how would you think about this decision if you were starting over?