Fort Lauderdale, FL · Member since 2017 · 33 posts · 16 votes
So my Husband and I have been talking about getting started as investors, but we are not sure exactly how we should go about doing this.
Currently, we are living with my parents in Fort Lauderdale, FL. We planned to just live here (maybe another 1-2 years) and save up as much money as we can.
Do you think it is a good idea to get our first property (multifamily) and continue to save money while living at my parent's? Then we could continue to save until we get enough for the down payment for our second property.
This would allow us to possibly cash flow more and save faster. Also we could manage the property w/o having to actually live next to the tenants.
Any advice?
Investor · Carlisle, IA · Member since 2017 · 9 posts · 7 votes
8y
Buying a multi-family and living in one of the units (house hacking), has a few benefits. If you do it right you can live for free, lowering your expenses and allowing you to save up for the next property. Also buying one and living in it makes it your primary residence allowing you to potentially get a lower interest rate and a lower down payment.
Succasunna, NJ · Member since 2017 · 104 posts · 12 votes
8y
If your looking to move out earlier then 2 years then buy a duplex and live in one unit while you rent the other to help with the mortgage. In many cases better Liam rates are give to investors who live in the property.
Wholesaler · Fairfield, CA · Member since 2017 · 472 posts · 145 votes
8y
What paul is describing is house hacking. It is a great step into real estate and is the way i plan on getting started. You can get a loan for as low as 3.5% down. This means much less of your own money going into the deal.
Investor · Carlisle, IA · Member since 2017 · 9 posts · 7 votes
8y
Buying a multi-family and living in one of the units (house hacking), has a few benefits. If you do it right you can live for free, lowering your expenses and allowing you to save up for the next property. Also buying one and living in it makes it your primary residence allowing you to potentially get a lower interest rate and a lower down payment.
Robotics Engineer · Germantown, MD · Member since 2015 · 98 posts · 24 votes
8y
Personally, I would try to save enough to buy the multi-family house with as many units as you can get (fourplex maybe) putting down 3.5%(FHA loan), but you would need to live in one of the units. Also, living in one of the units would help you get a lower interest loan. Finally, you would get more privacy than living with your parents.
If the property needs work you can also get a 203k loan wrapped into your 3.5% loan to help you pay for repairs.
Fort Lauderdale, FL · Member since 2017 · 33 posts · 16 votes
8y
Thank you so much for all of your responses. So I think what I am getting from your feedback is we should save first for the fha 3.5% downpayment before moving forward. I totally agree with this, but I was also trying to get a first time homeowner downpayment grant. I'm not sure which are actually legit or if I'm just signing up for a scam. Is that a route that some investors take?
I think my friend told me about something like this by Wells Fargo a few weeks ago. Take this with a grain of salt because I did no reading of this myself and not sure if I remember her words correctly but I think the requirement is you live in the same place for 5 years to get that grant. For me that's a big no-no because I don't know what I am going to be doing in five years. I would think you would want to move to a SFR within 5 years and I'm not sure if they would apply the grant to a multifamily but it is worth it to explore your options.
Lonoke, AR · Member since 2017 · 43 posts · 16 votes
8y
I 100% support your idea of living with your parent to save up money for downpayment, very wise and smart move. I’m also living with my parent right now to save up more money to buy real estate, it help me out a lot since I can save so much more money each month.
Rental Property Investor · wyoming · Member since 2017 · 76 posts · 73 votes
8y
Hey @LaVonna Shannon What is your end goal? What's your time frame? Why to both? I think knowing that is extremely important and will give you a better quality answer!