Choosing a Duplex Over a Single-Family Home

Our Case for Deciding on a Duplex As Your First Home

Why are duplexes a great deal?

Financial stability.

Picture this:

You're coming out of school and find yourself immediately buried in payments - student loans, car payments, and more.

On top of all of this, you're expecting to start renting or paying a mortgage - adding another large burden on top of your current liabilities.

Altogether, it can be a little bit overwhelming.

Even if it is manageable, it sucks away a sizable portion of your income each month, leaving very little left over.

If they need to shift gears, they want to be flexible to do so.

Of course, long-term leases and 30-year mortgages can make this difficult.

All of this considered:

Payments, flexible living situations, and even potential issues with qualifying for a home loan all lead us towards a potentially amazing solution - owning a duplex.

Duplexes + Financial Stability

There's a reason that millennials are turning towards duplexes as a great option for a first home.

Unlike single family homes, duplexes offer their owners the ability to rent out one side and live in the other.

This creates the opportunity to collect a rental payment from one side that can go directly towards paying your mortgage.

Believe it or not, some duplex owners have their entire mortgage payment covered by the rent check that they collect each month.

On top of all that, there's another major benefit:

You might be able to qualify for more when you're considering a duplex.

During the qualification process, many lenders will actually consider about 70 - 75% of the estimated rental payment that you'd collect while owning a duplex as part of your income when you're qualifying.

That means, of course, that someone who might not be able to afford a great single family home could potentially qualify for an amazing duplex.

Check with your mortgage lender and see if they offer this program!

Drew's Story: How Choosing a Duplex Made All the Difference

If you think it sounds like we're speaking from personal experience when we write, it's because we are.

Drew Hoefler, a real estate investment specialist with us, has invested in several duplexes.

He's lived out what we encourage clients to do by choosing to purchase a duplex first instead of the traditional single family home.

By starting with one duplex, Drew opened doors and was able to start growing a real estate portfolio.

It all started because Drew decided that collecting rental income from a tenant in a duplex sounded like an advantageous situation.