All Forum Posts by: Benjamin Sulka

 No problem, man! Best of luck to you. 

Jeff, 

There is nothing wrong with waiting a little bit. Consider waiting until you can qualify for a mortgage and go after a 2-4 unit multifamily. Put 5% down through the newly release Fannie Mae conventional program for 2-4 units. 

You will be able to retain much of your capital and house hacking will allow you to learn how to landlord and how to own real estate. This is the route that I'm taking once I hit my saving goal. 

Do you have much debt currently? I know you said you're making $40k per year but depending on your debt, you might still be able to qualify for financing. 

Some stuff to think about.

All the best! 

 Where do you currently live? I think it always makes sense to look within a couple hour radius of where you currently reside. Learning your local market is incredibly valuable. 

Maleek, 

So glad you're part of the community! Thank you for your service. 

Definitely take advantage of that VA loan for your house hack! Great strategy to pursue for a first time investor. I know because I'm a newbie to real estate as well.

All the best! 

Anthony, 

I'm a newbie looking to house hack just like you. 

I'm looking to buy a duplex in a B-A area where my future wife is going to be comfortable living. 

From a financial perspective, I'm not scrutinizing properties and looking for crazy cash flow. When house hacking, you're putting low money down and you're occupying one of the rentable units. This makes it basically impossible to cash flow, especially in a duplex. Look for a place that is going to reduce your living expenses, is the type of property you're looking for and is in a location that you want to live. 

Happy House Hacking!

^happy wife happy life, brother. 

Keeping your personal relationships intact are far more important. Put that at the top of the list. 

Jovelyn, 

Great to see you on the forums! We just connected via DM a couple of days ago. 

I have no knowledge of the San Diego market but getting into a house hack is a great play. I'm personally pursuing a duplex in my market. 

All the best! 

Scott, 

There's a lot of strategies that you could pursue with that much capital depending on your market. 

With no investing experience, house hacking is always the recommendation. I'm a newbie as well who is going to house hack in 2024 once I accumulate a bit more savings. 

See if you can buy a 2-4 unit in your area with owner occupant financing, learn how to be a landlord on site, learn about real estate investing at a higher level, and retain much of your capital. 

All the best man! 

Keng, 

Lots of great insight above.

An investor on BiggerPockets once told me: time in the market is better than timing the market. 

Prices and interest rates tend to have an inverse relationship. Economics would tell us that if rates drop, prices will go up as there is a greater demand for home buying. 

Just make sure your numbers make sense for your long term strategy! 

@Jake Andronico

"Hearing different peoples perspective and tailoring that advice to what YOU understand, what YOU gravitate towards, and what fits YOUR lifestyle is best IMO."

Love that.