21 y/o moving to Cincinnati to house hack with my brother. Thoughts on my plan?

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21 y/o moving to Cincinnati to house hack with my brother. Thoughts on my plan?

Benjamin J Meyer
Member since 2026 · 17 posts · 4 votes

I'm 21, and in March 2027 I'm moving from Sarasota to Cincinnati to get a W-2 maintenance tech job and close on our first house hack in mid-late 2027. I'm buying Deal 1 on FHA 3.5% with my brother co-borrowing, then he buys Deal 2 in 2028 on conventional 5% with me co-borrowing. We split everything 50/50. I also started MBH Property Services. Right now it's doing exterior cleaning in Sarasota, and I'm moving it to Cincy with me and adding turnovers, maintenance, and eventually management. The plan is to run it on our own doors first, then take on outside landlords and PMs once it's proven. We'll form a holding company around 2029 and put each property after that in its own LLC, with the goal of 30-40 doors first. For those of you who've done this, what are we not seeing?

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Chris SeveneyBusiness Member
Moderator
Investor · VA · Member since 2015 · 21k+ posts · 19k+ votes
2d

Congrats on everything you have accomplished. Having a plan like this is great, but as the mike tyson phrase goes everyone has a plan until they are punched in the face. In this situation biggest risk is going into business with family. make sure upfront you have the proverbial business divorce settlement outlined in advance. Money can really make people go batty.

The one thing I would say is its a good plan, just do not rush it, getting started things take longer than anticipated then later on they grow faster than anticipated. So stay the course.

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  • Chris SeveneyBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Investor · VA · Member since 2015 · 21k+ posts · 19k+ votes
    2d

    Congrats on everything you have accomplished. Having a plan like this is great, but as the mike tyson phrase goes everyone has a plan until they are punched in the face. In this situation biggest risk is going into business with family. make sure upfront you have the proverbial business divorce settlement outlined in advance. Money can really make people go batty.

    The one thing I would say is its a good plan, just do not rush it, getting started things take longer than anticipated then later on they grow faster than anticipated. So stay the course.

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  • Jimmy Samaha
    Staten Island, NY · Member since 2013 · 147 posts · 74 votes
    2d

    Solid plan for 21. One thing to map out with a lender now is that your brother co borrowing on Deal 1 means that mortgage counts in his debt to income when he applies for Deal 2, so ask how they will credit the rent from Deal 1. Also ask how much job history they want after the move, since starting a new W2 job a few months before closing can affect approval. FHA also requires you to live there as your primary residence for at least a year, so plan the timing around that.

    1Reply
  • Denise SuppleeBusiness Member
    Realtor · Willow Grove, PA · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 666 votes
    2d

    You have a pretty ambitious plan for 21, and I like that you're thinking about the business side early. The biggest things I'd make sure you have in place are plenty of reserves and a very clear agreement between you and your brother. 50/50 sounds simple until you have a major repair, one person wants to sell and the other doesn't, or one person is doing more of the work. I'd also be careful about trying to scale too quickly. Get the first couple of properties operating well before adding a lot more doors or outside management clients. And before closing, I'd have the lender confirm that the way you're structuring the co-borrower/house-hack plans works with the loan requirements. The plan looks good on paper; you just want to make sure the details work in practice.

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  • James JonesPro Member
    Investor · Collierville, TN 38017 · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 743 votes
    2d

    Benjamin, good plan to start at 21, but run the first house as a rental from day one, not just as a place to live. A house hack only works if the rent after you move out still works. I use the 1% rule: buy under $100K, and the rent has to be about 1% of the buy price, with ARV $180K-$265K and $1,395-$1,950 for a 3BR+ on Section 8 in my Memphis market. If the Cincinnati house does not hit that on real rent, pass on it and keep looking. Learn one market deep before you chase 30-40 doors, and do not build a management business before you have the doors. Deal flow is the bottleneck, not management. Get the first house operating well, with a clear written agreement with your brother on money, work, and exit, then repeat it. What rent are you seeing on the houses you are looking at in Cincinnati?

    1Reply
    • Benjamin J Meyer
      OP
      Member since 2026 · 17 posts · 4 votes
      2d

      Thanks James. Underwriting it as a rental from day one makes sense, so I'm running every deal on what it rents for after I move out. The east side quads I'm looking at rent for around [rent] a unit, so 1% is tough at these prices, which is why I'm leaning value-add. Learning one market deep is the plan, and I'll be working maintenance there full time too. Fair point on deal flow being the bottleneck. The service side starts on our own doors, and I'm hoping the landlord relationships from it help with deal flow.

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  • Christian Trapp
    Atlanta, GA · Member since 2026 · 6 posts · 1 vote
    2d

    Honestly the thing that jumped out at me wasn't the house hack plan, it was the maintenance business.

    If you can actually build relationships with landlords while you're doing turnovers and maintenance, you're gonna see more deals than most investors your age.

    Half the battle is getting in the room before everyone else even knows a property might sell.

    1Reply
  • Marc MoraPro Member
    Investor · Fort Lauderdale, FL · Member since 2026 · 303 posts · 48 votes
    2d

    @Benjamin J Meyer, I'd pressure-test the 50/50 with your brother. Agree in writing on what happens if one of you wants out, and know that co-borrowing on each other's loans usually means both mortgages count against both of you on the next application. I'd be open to poking holes in the plan with you if that helps. Have you two talked through a buyout yet? Which strategy carries you from two doors to thirty? I have so many comments on this having seen all of that!

    1Reply
    • Benjamin J Meyer
      OP
      Member since 2026 · 17 posts · 4 votes
      2d

      Thanks Marc, those are the right two questions. On the buyout, not in enough detail yet. We have a draft partnership agreement, but it doesn't spell out what happens if one of us wants out, so that's getting added before we make an offer. On two to thirty, the plan is to keep both house hacks as rentals, then BRRRR into small multifamily, with the service company bringing in cash and getting us in front of landlords who might sell. The co-borrowing hitting both of our DTIs is the part I'm least sure about. I'll take you up on poking holes in it.

      0Reply
  • Sal Bossio
    Member since 2026 · 14 posts · 2 votes
    2d

    Good plan to sketch out early, Benjamin. One lending piece to map before you make offers is how the first mortgage will be treated when either of you applies for the next one. Ask a loan officer to model both applications using the actual ownership, occupancy and rent assumptions, since co-borrowing can affect both files and rent treatment varies by lender. Also ask what employment history and documentation they’ll need after your move; a new job close to closing can change what income they can use. Make sure the first place still works as a rental later, and don’t count on Deal 2 until the lender has reviewed both scenarios. I’m an LO with Barrett Financial, for what it’s worth.

    1Reply
  • BJ Everson
    Realtor · Columbus, Franklin County · Member since 2026 · 171 posts · 67 votes
    2d

    @benjaminj167 Benjamin, solid plan, and the replies about a written agreement with your brother and co-borrowing counting against both of your debt-to-income ratios are the big ones. A few underwriting points to add (I work with investor buyers in Columbus, not Cincinnati, so check local specifics):

    • If Deal 1 is a 3 or 4 unit, FHA applies a self-sufficiency test: the appraiser's market rent for every unit, including yours, minus at least 25%, has to cover the full payment. Your income doesn't help you pass it. Duplexes don't have this test.

    • FHA on a 3-4 unit also requires three months of the payment in reserves after closing.

    • Underwrite Deal 1 as a full rental from day one, using rents from signed leases rather than listing rents, with vacancy, repairs and capex in the numbers.

    • Since the service company will work for outside landlords later, keep its books and insurance separate from your own rentals from the start.

    • Ohio cities set their own rental registration and inspection rules, so check the city before you buy. What unit count and price range are you targeting for Deal 1?

    1Reply
    • Benjamin J Meyer
      OP
      Member since 2026 · 17 posts · 4 votes
      2d

      Thanks BJ, a lot of good detail here. We're targeting a 4-unit on the east side of Cincinnati, mainly Norwood, Oakley, Pleasant Ridge and Madisonville, under $500K. Self-sufficiency has been knocking out most of them on paper, so we're leaning conventional 5%. Using rents from signed leases instead of listing rents is a good catch, and I'll underwrite that way going forward. I'll also keep the service company's books and insurance separate from day one and check each city's rental registration rules before we buy.

      0Reply
  • Min ZhangBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    2d

    Hey Benjamin! Sounds like you and your brother have put a lot of thought into your plan. I think starting with your own properties before taking on outside clients is a good approach. One thing I’d suggest is having a clear agreement between you and your brother about how you’ll split expenses, handle responsibilities, and make decisions as you grow. That can help avoid misunderstandings down the road. Best of luck with the move to Cincinnati and getting your first property!

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    • Benjamin J Meyer
      OP
      Member since 2026 · 17 posts · 4 votes
      9h

      Hey Min, appreciate you reaching out! Always good to meet other Ohio investors. Where in Ohio are you based, and what kind of property was your first deal? My brother and I are planning our first house hack in Cincinnati for 2027, so I'm trying to learn from anyone who's been through it recently.

      0Reply
  • Jarret Jarvis
    Real Estate Agent · Chicago · Member since 2021 · 181 posts · 65 votes
    2d

    Love the plan. A few things I'd pressure-test:

    FHA with your brother. If he isn't living in Deal 1, FHA treats him as a non-occupant co-borrower. On a 2–4 unit that usually caps you at 75% LTV instead of 3.5% down. Easiest fix: you both live there for year one. On a 3–4 unit, the rents also have to pass FHA's self-sufficiency test, and plenty of Cincy deals don't at today's rates.

    Qualifying. You'll be new at your W-2 job, and MBH income won't count until you have two years of tax returns. On Deal 2, Deal 1's mortgage sits on both your debt-to-income ratios. Talk to a lender now.


    LLCs. Moving FHA or conventional properties into LLCs can trigger the due-on-sale clause. Plan for those two to stay in your names, and lean on insurance plus an umbrella policy early.


    Your brother. Put the 50/50 in writing now: buyouts, exits, and how you break ties.


    MBH. Exterior cleaning slows way down in Ohio winters. Managing for other landlords generally requires a real estate license there, and a lot of the housing is pre-1978, so get lead-safe practices down early.


    Solid plan. Build your lender and agent team in Cincy before you move.

    1Reply
    • Benjamin J Meyer
      OP
      Member since 2026 · 17 posts · 4 votes
      2d

      Thank you Jarret, this is the most useful breakdown I've gotten. The non-occupant co-borrower point is one I hadn't caught, so I'm confirming with our lender how that applies to us. We're leaning conventional 5% now since most quads I run don't pass self-sufficiency anyway. Good call on keeping the first two in our names with an umbrella policy, and I'm working on my Ohio license now for the management side.

      0Reply
  • Dan Worth
    Pittsburgh, Allegheny County · Member since 2026 · 92 posts · 36 votes
    2d

    Benjamin, one thing to budget for: a lot of Cincinnati's 2-4 unit stock is 80-100+ years old, so get a sewer line scope plus a close look at the roof, electrical and any shared systems on every deal, because those are the surprises that wipe out a house hack's first-year cash flow. If you look at 3-4 unit buildings on FHA, ask your lender about the self-sufficiency test early, since it can rule out properties that look fine on paper. On the 2029 LLC plan, moving a financed property into an LLC can trip the loan's due-on-sale clause, so a lot of people keep the first couple of houses in their own names with a solid umbrella policy and only use LLCs for later purchases or after a refinance. Keep MBH Property Services insured and its books separate from the rentals from day one, which also makes it easier to take on outside clients later.

    1Reply
  • Nicholas L.Pro Member
    Flipper/Rehabber · Pittsburgh · Member since 2018 · 6k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    2d

    @Benjamin J Meyer can you both just house hack separately? it might take longer to save up but it avoids the complexity of being co-borrowers.

    1Reply
    • Benjamin J Meyer
      OP
      Member since 2026 · 17 posts · 4 votes
      2d

      Fair question Nicholas, and we've gone back and forth on it. Combining income and savings gets us into the first one sooner than either of us could alone. The downside is what you're pointing at, both mortgages sitting on both of our DTIs. I'm having a lender run it both ways, and if co-borrowing hurts Deal 2 more than it helps, buying separately is the fallback.

      0Reply
  • Gregg CampPro Member
    Member since 2021 · 39 posts · 13 votes
    2d

    Hopefully you both have skills and money. I would have a written agreement on what the expectations are of both sides. People can forget stuff, keep log of what you and he did each day, because it keeps track of things but are also holds each other accountable.

    1Reply
  • Harrison C.
    Member since 2017 · 122 posts · 63 votes
    2d

    @Benjamin J Meyer the lending and brother points above are the big ones. One thing nobody has said yet: if Deal 1 ends up being a single family house instead of a 2 to 4 unit, run the numbers as rent by the room too, not just as one whole house.

    In a 4 or 5 bedroom house you live in one room and rent the others to separate people, each on their own lease, each paying on the 1st. On the right house the rooms add up to more than the whole house would rent for, and when one person leaves you are still collecting from the rest instead of sitting at zero. Before you buy, call the city and ask how many unrelated people can live in one house, because that number decides whether the plan works at all.

    It also fits your service company. Rooms turn over more often than whole houses, so there is a steady stream of small turnovers: a clean, paint touch ups, a lock or code change, photos of the room at move in and move out. That is exactly the work you want to prove on your own doors before you sell it to other landlords.

    If you go that way, put the utilities rule in every lease from day one. What works for us: rent includes the first $100 of utilities a month, and anything over that is split by the days each person lived there. It ends the arguments before they start.

    1Reply
  • Sam McCormackBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Cincinnati, OH/NKY · Member since 2021 · 1k+ posts · 835 votes
    2d
    Quote from @Benjamin J Meyer:

    I'm 21, and in March 2027 I'm moving from Sarasota to Cincinnati to get a W-2 maintenance tech job and close on our first house hack in mid-late 2027. I'm buying Deal 1 on FHA 3.5% with my brother co-borrowing, then he buys Deal 2 in 2028 on conventional 5% with me co-borrowing. We split everything 50/50. I also started MBH Property Services. Right now it's doing exterior cleaning in Sarasota, and I'm moving it to Cincy with me and adding turnovers, maintenance, and eventually management. The plan is to run it on our own doors first, then take on outside landlords and PMs once it's proven. We'll form a holding company around 2029 and put each property after that in its own LLC, with the goal of 30-40 doors first. For those of you who've done this, what are we not seeing?

    I tell you what, I bet my clients would love a decent property manager. I've recommended too many people over the years that ended up sucking (anything more than 1 is too many, unfortunately I trusted some PM's too fast), so if you are halfway decent, I bet I have a few clients who would use your service. Also, ever think about NKY? It's right across the river and to be honest, I like it more than Cincinnati. Let me know if you have questions about it. Greater Cincinnati is nice but I do like NKY more (I have 2 properties in NKY). I started househacking at your age and it was a great decision. I'm in my 2nd one and it only gets better! (With some hiccups)

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    • Benjamin J Meyer
      OP
      Member since 2026 · 17 posts · 4 votes
      2d

      Appreciate that Sam, that means a lot coming from someone who's had to deal with the bad ones. Doing right by clients is the whole point of how I want to build this, so I'd like to earn those referrals once I'm up and running in Cincinnati. I'm starting with turnovers and maintenance on our own doors first and working on my Ohio license for the management side. I hadn't looked much at NKY, so I'm curious what you like more about it and how the numbers compare to the east side Cincy. Great to hear house hacking at this age worked out for you!

      0Reply
  • Ryan BakerBusiness Member
    Lender · Strongsville / Cleveland, OH · Member since 2026 · 176 posts · 48 votes
    2d

    Have a lender model both purchases together before you make offers, since each mortgage can count against both of your debt-to-income ratios and the rent credit varies by program. If Deal 1 is a 3- or 4-unit FHA purchase, confirm the self-sufficiency test and required reserves early. Put the 50/50 ownership, buyout, and exit plan with your brother in writing, and check before moving a financed home into an LLC. I handle owner-occupied and investor purchase loans and can walk through the financing with you; give me a call (my number's in my signature below).

    – Ryan

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    • Benjamin J Meyer
      OP
      Member since 2026 · 17 posts · 4 votes
      2d

      Thanks Ryan, appreciate you jumping in on this one too. Having both purchases modeled together before we offer is the plan, especially how Deal 1's mortgage and rent show up on my brother's file when he buys Deal 2. We're leaning conventional 5% since most quads I've run don't pass self-sufficiency, and the first two will stay in our names. I'll give you a call once we have a property to run.

      0Reply
  • G. Brian DavisPro Member
    Investor · Hatboro, PA · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 905 votes
    2d

    You’ve got a lot of good pieces here, but I’d be careful about trying to build all of them at the same time. I’d focus first on getting Deal 1 right, learning what you and your brother are actually like as partners, and proving the maintenance business on your own properties before trying to scale it. I’d also get very clear with your brother on the money and the exit strategy. 50/50 sounds simple until one person wants to sell, one wants to keep buying, or one can’t contribute the same amount anymore. If you can get the first couple of properties running well and prove the business model, then scaling to 30–40 doors becomes a lot more realistic.

    1Reply
    • Benjamin J Meyer
      OP
      Member since 2026 · 17 posts · 4 votes
      1d

      Thanks Brian, that's fair, and a few people here have said the same thing about pace. Deal 1 is the priority, and the maintenance work starts on our own units so we can prove it before scaling anything. The money and exit terms with my brother are going into our agreement before we buy. One of us not being able to contribute the same amount later is a case I hadn't thought about, so that's getting added too.

      0Reply
  • Ashish AcharyaBusiness Member
    CPA, CFP®, PFS · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2017 · 5k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    2d

    As a fellow Sarasota local, I’ll warn you that you’re going to miss the beaches come February. On the tax side, the first thing I’d nail down is how you and your brother own these properties together. Co-owning a rental 50/50 can simply mean each of you reports your half on Schedule E. But once you’re running the properties jointly as a business, the IRS can treat it as a partnership that files its own return. A written agreement now on who owns what, who pays what, and how you split it saves a lot of cleanup later.

    MBH is where the bigger planning opportunity is. Its profits are active income, taxed at regular rates plus 15.3% self-employment tax, and the right entity structure (LLC vs. S-corp) helps you save taxes on active, non-passive ordinary income. Once the business is netting a solid profit, run the numbers on an S-corp election. One catch with doing turnovers and maintenance on your own doors: your own labor isn't deductible, and paying your own company mostly moves money from one pocket to another. Keep the books for MBH and the rentals separate from day one. Also keep in mind that Florida has no state income tax, but Ohio does, and Cincinnati adds its own earnings tax on both your wages and the business.

    When you set up the holding company, keep the rentals in LLCs that are taxed as disregarded entities or as a partnership, not as an S-corp. Taking property out of an S-corp later is a taxable event, and that’s a hard mistake to undo at 30 doors.

    Happy to connect!

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    • Benjamin J Meyer
      OP
      Member since 2026 · 17 posts · 4 votes
      1d

      Thanks Ashish, and you're probably right about the beaches. This is the first tax breakdown anyone's given me, and it's a side of the plan I hadn't thought through. I didn't know co-owning 50/50 could turn into a partnership return once we're running the properties jointly, so I'll get the ownership and the split in writing now. Good to know on MBH too, that my own labor on our doors isn't deductible and that Cincinnati has its own earnings tax on top of Ohio's. I'll keep the rentals out of an S-corp when we set up the holding company. At what profit level do you usually see the S-corp election start to make sense for a service business?

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  • Mario Medina
    Contractor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2026 · 13 posts · 0 votes
    1d

    hi

    0Reply
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