THE GET RICH SLOW GUIDE

Every question people ask before they buy a home that comes with a tenant.

Answered straight: the rule, a worked number, what can go wrong and what to do next.

START HERE

Is this real?

An ordinary home loan, a rule that is decades old, and who has started this way.

Is a house with an ADU, or a duplex, a home or a rental?The federal rulebook for FHA loans puts a duplex in the same class as a house. It defines a two-unit building as a "Single Family residential Property with two individual Dwelling Units."
Is house hacking legal?The rule is printed in Fannie Mae's guide and FHA's handbook, public rulebooks that lenders follow. What they ask in return is that you sign that you will live there and mean it.
Is renting out part of the home you own a new idea?The FHA's handbook files any home with one to four units under "Single Family" mortgages. To the agency that insures the loan, a fourplex you live in is in the same rulebook as a house.
Why doesn't Zillow, my agent or my lender show what the rent does?The loan rules are public. So what the rent does to your monthly cost, and to the income a lender counts, can be estimated before you choose a home.
If a house with an ADU or a duplex works, why does almost nobody buy one?A listing shows the asking price. It does not show what it costs you to live there after the rent, which is why a fourplex can look like the expensive choice.
Who has done this, in their own words?The famous line about getting rich slowly is secondhand. Jeff Bezos has recounted asking Warren Buffett why more people do not copy his investing. Buffett's answer, as Bezos tells it, was that getting rich slowly is not something people like.
Will legalizing duplexes and ADUs help people buy them?Fannie Mae counts rent from one existing ADU, such as a garage apartment, up to 30 percent of the income you qualify with. A city may allow more homes on a lot than a mortgage will count.

What will it cost me each month?

The whole payment, the rent, and what is left for you to pay.

What's the catch?

You live there, you are the landlord, and you still pay part of the cost. What each one takes.

Will the bank say yes?

How the rent is counted, which loan fits, how much cash it takes, and what to do after a no.

See what you qualify for. No credit pull.

I found one. Is it a good one?

What to check before you sign, because the lender checks it after.

What are the rules where I live?

Texas and Colorado rules that change the math, tied to the agency that wrote them.

What is the first year like?

You have the keys and a tenant. Here is the work, and what to do when it goes wrong.

What does this build in ten years?

Get rich slow: what the tenant, the loan and the years do, and what could wreck it.

Run the ten-year math on your numbers

If you own one

I own one, and I'm thinking about selling.

Which buyers can pay your price today, how much cash each one needs, and why the first offer usually comes from an investor.

I'm ready to sell. How do I do it right?

Tenants, paperwork, and what a listing has to say for a buyer's loan to go through.

If you are the agent

I'm an agent with one on my desk.

A listing to market, a buyer who wants one, or two offers and one that will not close.

GO DEEPER

The math, the loans and the long version.

Your question is not on this page.

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