Weird situation...want to invest.

[Michael Garcia]

First time post and finally ready to leap into real-estate investing. Been studying Bigger Pockets, including buying/reading everyones books for years. Bare with me as I am in a weird situation...

BACKGROUND: I am 39/ and my wife is 36 (we have 2 kids) and we have $60k in cash to use towards an investment. I am in the Military (17 years now) and currently have $185k of equity in our NJ home (used VA Loan 6 years ago). My credit is over 800.

My father in-law owns his home out right, worth $250k. No credit and no savings. He wants to move closer to us and will pretty much do what we tell him to do with his house or living situation. He just wants to be closer to his grandkids. He's 70.

OPPORTUNITY: I found a nice tri-plex for sale near me. Sale price is $650k (3bd/2bth, 1bd/1bth, and separate cottage with 2bd/1bth). Taxes are about $8k annually. Listing states that it generates $60k annually, but I think it can be closer to $70k.

How do I leverage my father in-laws home, my equity, my VA opportunity, and try not to touch my cash OR relocate my family? Also, is this a good buy? Should I get a HELOC or somehow co-sign for my father in-law and use him somehow to start investing? We are open to almost all options except moving...sorry house hackers. Wife's call, not mine.

Any advice would be helpful. Thanks and Im excited to finally start this journey.

-Mike

[Denise Supplee]

Hi @Michael Garcia nice to meet you here on BP! A few framing thoughts.... When family is involved, simplicity matters more than leverage. You want each decision to stand on its own so one problem doesn’t cascade across multiple households. That’s especially true given your stage of life, kids, and military career.

On leverage options: your VA benefit is extremely valuable, but since you're not moving, I'd view it as a future weapon rather than something to force into this deal. A HELOC on your primary can work, but only if the triplex clearly cash flows after full debt service and you maintain strong reserves, otherwise you're putting your family home at risk for marginal upside.

Regarding your father-in-law, the lowest-risk path is usually not borrowing against his house at 70. A cleaner approach is selling his home, relocating him closer in a modest place or rental, and preserving liquidity. That gives you optionality without entangling his asset or credit in your first investment.

For the triplex itself, step back and underwrite it brutally conservative. Verify in-place rents, confirm realistic operating expenses, stress test interest rates, and see if it supports the debt without creative structuring. If it works cleanly, then you can decide which capital source fits best. If it only works by stacking leverage, that’s a signal, not a challenge.