FHA Loan for First Time Multifamily Buyer

[Josh W.]

Hello everyone,

I am thrilled to be a part of the BP community! I live in Los Angeles and have been working as a television producer, however, my goal has always been to purchase a multifamily home to use as my primary residence, and also to begin investing in real estate. 

As you know, Los Angeles is not the best place to find affordable housing, and the prices can be quite inflated. However, after speaking with some people, I have been considering using an FHA loan to purchase my first multifamily property within the next year or two (the inventory is slim, so I am on a long term hunt right now).

Does anyone here have experience using FHA loans to build their real estate portfolio?

Do any of you have any experience in the Los Angeles real estate market? 

I love the idea of buying a property I can actively manage for at least one year, and I get excited just thinking about it. Not to mention I am pretty handy and can do many small repairs on my own (I actually enjoy it).

Any help would be greatly appreciated! I just want to know if I am on the right track. Thanks!

[Michael Ablan]

The great thing about the FHA loan is it allows you to buy anything 1-4 family. I always recommend to use it to get yourself into a 4 unit. Even better if you're able to use the FHA 203k construction loan and get yourself a value add 4plex. There's no other product that'll allow you to buy into an asset with only 3.5% (other than owner financing or the VA loan if you're military).

Just remember you'll be paying PMI (private mortgage insurance) for the life of the loan, so factor that into your costs. Thats why the value add option is a good route. If you fix it up and make it worth significantly more than what you paid, then you can refinance it into a conventional mortgage, pull out $, eliminate PMI and have funds to buy something else.

Good luck @Josh W.