Growth without SFRs? How?
Hi BP community- longtime lurker, rare poster. I've seen many, such as Ben Leybovich, decry SFR properties, but I have a hard time understanding why- from the perspective of a smaller investor.
I work full time, and on the side, I've done a couple flips and own a few rentals. Since the rentals don't bring enough income for me to quit my job, I continue to work full time and save what I can.
I see a lot of people talking about how multifamily homes or apartment buildings are "better"- but since you have to put large down payments, or agree to owner finance deals that usually don't give you a huge margin- I don't really see how so. It's quite hard to find apartment buildings or multifamily units that are undervalue, since they are usually investor-owned- meanwhile, SFR's seem to be where you can find the most market inefficiencies.
I've been buying SFR's undervalue, fixing them up, and doing a 75% cash out refi to get my money back, enabling me to buy another (and flip or refi again). I'm slowly growing my cash flow and my actual cash base (through flips and savings).
I keep seeing suggestions to look at apartment buildings, but I feel like the moment I buy an apartment building- there goes my cash pile, since it has to be 20% down! So focusing on SFR's seems to enable the most growth for me.
Am I wrong? Is there a way for me to obtain apartment buildings that doesn't immediately tie me up?
My goal is to hit enough cash flow to be able to safely quit my full-time job.