Live Free in D.C.: How I Would Buy This 4 Unit Property, Use HPAP for the Cash to Close, and Let the Tenants Pay the Mortgage

Most people looking for a home in Washington, D.C. are looking at the wrong numbers.

They start with the price of the house and ask:

“Can I afford the mortgage?”

I think there is a better question:

“Can I buy a property that helps pay its own mortgage?”

That is what caught my attention about 125 Galveston Place SW, Washington, D.C. 20032.

This is a four unit property listed for $475,000. Each apartment has one bedroom and one bathroom. Two units are occupied and two are currently vacant.

So instead of thinking about this simply as a $475,000 house, I looked at it as:

One place for you to live and three apartments capable of helping you pay for it.

Then I added D.C.’s Home Purchase Assistance Program, HPAP, to the analysis.

That is where this gets interesting.

In the video, I walk through exactly how I would look at buying 125 Galveston Place as an owner occupant.

I am going to show you three things:

1. How HPAP could potentially cover most or all of your down payment and closing costs.

2. How renting the other three apartments for approximately $3,750 per month could approximately cover the mortgage payment.

3. How, depending on your savings and final HPAP approval, you could potentially come to closing with very little of your own money, possibly around $500 in the right circumstances.

That last number requires some explanation, so keep reading.

First, Look at What You Are Actually Buying

125 Galveston is a legal four unit residential property in Congress Heights.

The listing shows:

• Four one bedroom apartments
• Four residential units
• Approximately 2,848 square feet
• Two occupied units
• Two vacant units
• Three off street parking spaces
• A basement
• Current asking price of $475,000

The listing describes it as a brick multifamily property with updated units, hardwood floors, built in microwaves, stackable washers and dryers and rear parking.

More importantly for what I am discussing here, the listing specifically recognizes the possibility of an owner living in one unit while collecting rent from the others.

That is exactly what I would be looking to do.

This Is Not Just an Investment Property

A four unit property is important because it can potentially still be financed as an owner occupied residential property when the borrower is actually going to live there and the transaction meets the lender’s requirements.

I would occupy one apartment.

That leaves three apartments producing income.

That is very different from buying a single family house.

If I buy a single family property, I have one mortgage and no rental income.

If I buy this property and live in one apartment, I still have a mortgage, but I also potentially have three rent checks coming in every month.

The MLS currently shows FHA, VA and conventional financing as acceptable. 

Now Look at the Mortgage

I prepared an FHA Loan Estimate for this property using the current $475,000 asking price.

The illustration shows:

Purchase price: $475,000

Loan amount: $466,396

Interest rate used for illustration: 7.25%

Principal and interest: approximately $3,181.64

Mortgage insurance: approximately $210

Estimated taxes and insurance escrow: approximately $257

That produces an estimated total monthly payment of approximately:

$3,649

The interest rate was not locked. Rates change, and your actual payment would depend on the loan available when you apply.

But $3,649 gives us a reasonable number to analyze.

Now look at the other side of the transaction.

What Could the Other Three Apartments Produce?

I am not using some aggressive rent number to make the deal look good.

For purposes of this analysis, I am using:

$1,250 per month per apartment.

Three apartments at $1,250 each equals:

$3,750 per month

The 2026 one bedroom Housing Choice Voucher rent range is approximately $1,270 to $1,397 per month for this market. 

So I am analyzing the deal at $1,250.

Now compare the numbers.

Mortgage payment: approximately $3,649

Gross rent from three apartments: approximately $3,750

Difference: approximately $101

That is why I call this strategy:

Live Free in D.C.

I am not saying there are no other expenses.

There are.

You own a four unit building. There will be maintenance. There can be vacancies. There can be repairs. There are utilities and other operating expenses depending on how the property is set up.

The current listing says the owner presently pays expenses that include heat, insurance, lawn care, pest control, repairs, real estate taxes and trash.

So “Live Free” does not mean the property has zero expenses.

What I mean is something much more important.

You could potentially own a four unit building in Washington, D.C. while the rent from your tenants covers approximately the entire basic mortgage payment.

That is a completely different economic proposition from paying $2,000 or $2,500 every month to rent somebody else’s apartment.

Now Add HPAP

This is the part that I believe many D.C. residents do not fully appreciate.

Washington, D.C. has a substantial homeownership assistance program.

It is called the Home Purchase Assistance Program, or HPAP.

HPAP assistance is based in part on household size and household income.

Under the HPAP assistance table I used for this analysis, a one person household with income of $126,200 or less can fall within the tier providing as much as $70,000 of assistance.

A three person household with income of $162,250 or less can fall within that same assistance tier. HPAP Homebuyer Assistance Table…

Think about those numbers for a minute.

I am not talking only about someone earning $35,000 or $40,000.

A single person making as much as $126,200 may potentially fall within this HPAP tier.

A family of three making as much as $162,250 may potentially fall within this tier.

And people with lower incomes may potentially qualify for even more assistance.

The table shows maximum assistance rising as high as $202,000 for households within the lowest income category shown. HPAP Homebuyer Assistance Table…

The HPAP table also provides for closing cost assistance of up to $4,000 for eligible households, subject to the program rules. HPAP Homebuyer Assistance Table…

This is why I would not automatically conclude that I could not buy a $475,000 property because I do not have $40,000 or $50,000 sitting in the bank.

I would find out what programs I qualify for first.

Here Is What the Loan Estimate Shows

The sample FHA Loan Estimate shows:

Down payment: $16,625

Estimated closing costs: $28,578

That sounds like a lot of money.

But the illustration also assumes $40,000 of assistance.

After that $40,000 is applied, along with the $1,000 earnest money deposit shown in the estimate, the estimated remaining cash to close is only:

$4,203

Loan-Estimate-40k-HPAP

Now compare that $40,000 illustration with the HPAP table.

A qualifying buyer in the income category I just described could potentially be eligible for up to $70,000.

So I would not stop the analysis at $40,000.

I would determine the actual HPAP award.

Could You Really Buy This With Only $500?

Possibly.

But I want to be precise about what I mean.

I am not saying that every HPAP buyer can purchase 125 Galveston with exactly $500.

That would depend on your:

• household income
• household size
• savings
• assets
• HPAP eligibility
• HPAP award
• mortgage approval
• closing costs
• required borrower contribution
• seller concessions
• appraisal
• underwriting

HPAP looks at the borrower’s financial circumstances, including available savings.

Depending on how the final transaction is structured and how much HPAP assistance is awarded, there are circumstances in which the buyer’s required personal contribution could become extremely small.

That is why I believe an eligible buyer could potentially come to closing with as little as approximately $500 of personal funds in the right circumstances.

The real point is not whether the number is $500, $1,500 or $4,000.

The point is this:

You may not need $30,000, $50,000 or $100,000 of your own money to buy a four unit building in Washington, D.C.

That is the opportunity I want people to understand.

Look at the Entire Transaction

Here is the basic Live Free in D.C. analysis:

This is the kind of real estate transaction I like.

Not because it is complicated.

Because the numbers are doing something for you.

Instead of Buying a Condo, Buy Income

Suppose you are deciding between buying a $400,000 or $450,000 condominium and buying a four unit property.

With the condo, you live there and make the payment.

That is basically the end of the financial equation.

With this property, you live in one unit and potentially collect rent from three others.

You own your home.

But you also own three rental units.

That means your first home can also become your first real estate investment.

That is a powerful difference.

And I Would Not Stop With the Three Apartments

There are other possible income sources here.

The property has three rear parking spaces.

The listing specifically mentions the possibility of producing additional income from the parking.

There is also a basement.

The separate property analysis identified the possibility of using basement space for storage income, subject of course to the condition of the property and applicable D.C. requirements. 

I would not need either of those things to justify the basic analysis.

But I would certainly investigate them.

If I buy an income producing property, I want to know every legitimate way that property can produce income.

What About the Existing Tenants?

This is important.

The property currently has two occupied apartments and two vacant apartments.

The listing reports rents of approximately $1,050 and $1,015 for the occupied apartments.

So I am not suggesting that someone buys the building on Monday and automatically collects $3,750 from three apartments on Tuesday.

You need to examine:

• existing leases
• rent control
• security deposits
• tenant rights
• voucher requirements
• allowable rent increases
• D.C. licensing
• property condition

The listing also reports that a Notice of Potential Sale was issued and states that the transaction is exempt from TOPA. I would still have the title company or attorney verify the applicable tenant requirements before closing.

This is real estate.

You verify.

You do not assume.

Is $475,000 Too Much?

I also ran the comparable sales.

The property is listed at approximately $167 per square foot.

One of the strongest comparable sales in the CMA is 331 Parkland Place SE, another four unit property containing approximately 2,720 square feet.

It sold for $465,000 in April 2026.

The other active multifamily properties in the comparison were generally being offered at higher prices, including properties around $550,000 to $575,000. cma-aleem

Does that mean $475,000 is automatically the right price?

No.

I would still negotiate.

I would still get an appraisal.

I would still inspect the property.

I would still review the leases.

But the price is not something I would dismiss without doing the analysis.

This Is the Way I Think First Time Buyers Should Be Looking at D.C. Real Estate

If you are going to spend $3,000 or $4,000 every month for housing, I would at least consider whether you can own the asset that is creating the housing expense.

Better yet, I would ask whether that asset can generate income.

Instead of:

“How much house can I afford?”

I would ask:

“How much income producing real estate can I afford?”

Those are two very different questions.

One gets you a place to live.

The other can get you a place to live plus an investment.

Five Years From Now

This is where the strategy becomes even more interesting.

Suppose you buy the four unit property.

You live in one apartment.

You rent the other three.

Over time, you pay down the mortgage.

Rents may increase.

The property may appreciate.

Eventually, you move.

Now you rent your apartment too.

You no longer own a home with three rental units.

You own:

A fully rented four unit investment property.

And you started the entire process by buying your first home.

That is why I think house hacking two, three and four unit properties deserves far more attention from first time buyers.

Want Me to Run This Analysis for You?

You do not have to know whether you qualify for HPAP before contacting me.

That is part of what I can help you determine.

I am looking at these transactions from both sides because I am both a D.C. licensed Realtor and a D.C. licensed Mortgage Loan Officer.

So when I look at a property like this, I am not just asking whether I can sell you the property.

I am asking:

Can we finance it?

What assistance can we use?

What rent can the other units reasonably produce?

How much of the mortgage can the tenants cover?

How much cash would you actually need?

Does the transaction make economic sense?

That is the analysis I want to do before somebody signs a contract.

Live Free in D.C.

My idea is simple.

Buy the building.

Live in one apartment.

Rent the other three.

Use D.C. homebuyer assistance if you qualify.

Let the property help pay the mortgage.

Then, when you are ready to move, rent the fourth apartment.

Your first home may become your first serious investment property.

That is Live Free in D.C.

Kenneth Bossard, MBA

D.C. Realtor
Samson Properties
D.C. License #SP98374090

D.C. Mortgage Loan Officer
NMLS #2189943

REIProforma.com

This analysis is for educational purposes and illustrates one possible transaction structure. Mortgage approval, HPAP eligibility and assistance, interest rates, rental income, Housing Choice Voucher rents, property eligibility and cash required at closing depend on the individual borrower and final underwriting. Rental income is not guaranteed. Buyers should independently verify leases, tenant rights, property condition, operating expenses, HPAP requirements and applicable D.C. housing laws before purchasing.

This analysis is informational and based on assumptions that may change. Independently verify property condition, title, zoning, comparable sales, financing terms, construction costs and exit values.