Chicago · 2-flat buying
If you are going to live in the building, the real number is 5 percent down. That one fact changes what feels possible for most first time buyers.
A 2-flat is one building with two apartments. Most of the country calls it a duplex. In Chicago you can buy one with a regular home loan, live in one apartment, and let the rent from the other one help pay your mortgage.
Here is the math on a $600,000 building, a realistic price for a solid 2-flat in many Chicago neighborhoods.
Down payment: 5 percent is $30,000. That is a regular conventional loan for a buyer living in the building. We checked it against Fannie Mae's own loan rules, updated August 2026.
Closing costs: plan on about 3 percent, around $18,000 here. That covers the lawyer, the lender's fees, taxes and title work.
So about $48,000 gets you into a $600,000 building you also live in.
A cheaper building. Half of Chicago's recorded 2-flat sales over the last year closed under $450,000. Price moves block by block more than people believe, so the same money goes much further one neighborhood over. Picking the block is the real work, and it is work we love.
Grant money. Chicago has a grant program that has offered up to $70,000 toward down payment and closing costs for some buyers, and 2-flats count. These programs open and close fast. Ask us what is live the week you start looking.
An FHA loan. On a 2-flat it can go to 3.5 percent down. It comes with extra rules and extra monthly costs, so for most buyers the 5 percent loan wins once you run both side by side. A lender who closes 2-flat loans every week will run both for you.
One more thing the bank does that surprises people: the rent counts. When you buy a 2-flat to live in, the lender can count much of the other apartment's rent as income when you qualify. You are not carrying this building alone. The building is helping you qualify for itself.
Want your exact number? Run any listing through our free deal analyzer, or just reach out and tell us what you have saved. We will help you see what you can buy today, and the fastest path there if the answer is not yet. You are closer than you think.