Weird situation...want to invest.

Michael Garcia · 2026-01-19T18:30:53-08:00

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 SuppleeBusiness Member

Realtor · Willow Grove, PA · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 663 votes

9mo

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.

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Michael Garcia
OP
New to Real Estate · NJ · Member since 2024 · 2 posts · 0 votes
9mo
Quote from @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.

Thank you so much Denise. That is amazing advice and I have written it down. Im hoping to make a move soon...just have to stay conservative. Multi family homes are rare in my area, so it's so very tempting. I really do appreciate your input.
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Shawn McenteerBusiness Member

Realtor · Boonton Township, NJ · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes

9mo

@Michael Garcia For sure ways of doing this but tough to say exactly how without knowing more information. What area of NJ are you looking to purchase multi in?

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Pierre Guirguis

Lender · Marlboro, NJ · Member since 2025 · 243 posts · 150 votes

8mo

You actually have a few advantages that a lot of first-time investors don’t. Strong credit, equity in your home, and a family member with a paid-off property. The first thing I would focus on is whether the triplex works on its own financially. If the property is doing $60k to $70k gross on a $650k purchase, that could make sense depending on expenses. Once you factor in taxes, insurance, maintenance, vacancy, and potentially management, you want to make sure the income still supports the debt.

As far as leverage, investors in similar situations sometimes look at opening a HELOC on their primary residence, doing a cash-out refinance if the numbers make sense, or potentially using the equity in the father-in-law's property if he's comfortable with that. When underwriting a small multifamily deal like this, lenders will generally look at both the borrower's income and the property's income.

Another thing to think through is the long-term plan for your father-in-law’s home. If he’s moving closer anyway, that property could potentially become a rental itself or be sold to create capital for a down payment instead of layering multiple loans together.

Before getting too deep into structure, I would verify the current rent roll and compare it with market rents to see if the $70k projection is realistic. If the income holds up, the financing side usually becomes much easier to solve.

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Weird situation...want to invest.

Weird situation...want to invest.

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