2nd & 3rd Property Financing Strategies

[Jeremy Barren]

Hello BP forum! My name is Jeremy and I am currently a 29-year-old student finishing up my Master's in Finance in Portland, OR. I intend on investing with a partner in real estate in the broader Portland/Vancouver market towards the end of this year. This will be my first property investment and my goal is to scale to 3 properties within a 2-year time frame. 

We are targeting a multi-family or SFH as the first purchase and would like to scale up the unit count from there. When getting an investment loan for a second purchase, is it more beneficial to have cash on hand for a 20% down payment or to have more equity in the first property purchase?

Additionally, my partner fully owns his home worth roughly $400K. We are trying to learn at what point, and for what reason, it makes sense to refinance his home to support future growth. Specifically, if we can cover up to X% of a down payment on future properties, what would that X be? 

Thanks in advance, learning a lot from this community! 

- Jeremy