Investing in Multi Family now or Student Loans first...any guidance?

[JoJo Diego]

I've asked this question in other areas and have yet to get 1 response, maybe here will help - before investing, financially where should I be? (I understand no one can give a clean direct answer but a ball park)

I'd like to know where should my funds be in order to apply for a home loan? Should I save up $50K first? Where should my credit be? Right now, I'm finishing up my MBA (will graduate in December, yay!) and I have practically a mortgage amount in student loans - do I pay those off first? Do I pay them down some and then apply? My financial consultant suggests that I pay off everything off first and then think about owning a home (this could take years!). Only other debt I have is my car note, but I've decided to attack that aggressively for the next 6 months, but afterwards will that be enough? I guess my question is where should one be financially in order to get started?

[Mark Gallagher]

I'm a numbers guy, but I don't like to over analyze. If you can put $10,000 out of pocket, on a $50,000-$100,000 property that makes $800-$1000 gross rents, $400-$500 net, you'll break even in ~1.5 years. Then in year 2 you have over half of your student loans being paid by someone else, all while paying off a mortgage on an asset. In 15-30 years, you have a property worth $100-$200K that you spent $10,000 out of pocket on. If you keep paying your $800 in student loans, and apply the profit from the rental, you'll essentially cut down your repayment length by 2/3rds. Or take the profit and save up for another purchase. This is all of course speculating that you can get mortgages, but it sounds like you'd be fine.

Invest now, not later. Your "financial consultant" either wants you to invest your money with him/her, or has no idea how to actually get out of debt! Passive income gets you out of debt. One stream of income is too slow to get ahead. You need other investment vehicles to get you ahead. 

Good luck!