Questions for Potential Lenders When Getting Started

[Lucas Hattervig]

Hey everyone, 

I just recently graduated from graduate school and I'm really interested in REI. Over that past 6 months or so I've been consistently listening to the BiggerPockets podcast and reading several real estate books including Brandon Turner's "Investing in Real Estate with No and Low Money Down". I'm going to be working hard to save up for my first real estate deal, and would like to get more serious about actually purchasing a property in about a year. My goal is to buy a triplex or 4-plex and live in one unit while renting out the other 2-3. Currently I'm putting a REI team into place. I sat down with several agents and found one that aligns with my goals. Now I'm looking at building a relationship with a lender. I know one of the local banks does 5% down conventional loans which would save me PMI after I achieve 20% equity in the property. Just interested to hear from some of you if their are certain/specific questions I should ask potential lenders when trying to decide which will be right for me?

Thanks for your input. Cheers.

Lucas Hattervig

[Dave Skow]

I would recommend getting formally  pre approved  with a lender  for  the  4 plex  purchase scenario  to make sure that you can qualify and to  confirm that loan terms are ones you can  work with ...doing this  will also  make you more familiar with the  figures  ...if you don't  buy for awhile - that's  fine ...you can return to the  file when  you are  ready  or  get a new file  established down the road  …...if you locate a property you want to offer on - you will be ready