All Forum Posts by: Ethan Davis

$20k is possibly enough but in all honesty, it will be a bit hard since you are on the younger side so have not had time to develop a credit history. This will lead to challenges in getting finances as well as increase the interest rate you will be offered. This in turn will make it difficult to find a property that could cash flow as a house hack. 

With an FHA loan and that budget, a house hack is doable in Columbus and Cleveland (admittedly am not familiar with Toledo). We have a lot of low price points that can cashflow in B-C neighborhoods, just make sure you have enough left over in reserves after closing, especially if you take on a multifamily.

The concern is even if you found a hard money lender, which would be difficult because you don't have established credibility, you do have to make those payments while the rehab happens and it is difficult to manage while out of state. Project managers I know go to the job site every day. My main concern is you will deplete your savings and not have a cushion.

If you are renting now, I would recommend saving a little more and buying a two bed fixer condo in LA and house hack. That's what I did to get started. That way you are building equity and at least have some credibility when a hard money lender asks you about your experience.

Alternatively, save up a little and buy a straight rental property. You are so young that you have the power of time on your hands.  

I would disagree with Alexander, unfortunately unless you are making big money, it is hard to move back to LA once you have left. The cost difference is so much more and with the higher cost of living, you may not want to. That's why I'm suggesting a house hack here and then scale/move. 

When we have thought about moving out of state, the idea is to rent out our current house hack (house with ADU). That way if we ever decided to move back, we already have a property.