Newbie Real Estate Investor in San Antonio, Texas

[Michael Smith]

Hi Everyone - my name is Michael Smith and I am new to the BP forums. I have been living in San Antonio the last 4 years. I am thinking of diving into real estate investing here. I am hoping to buy some rental properties in the area that have good cash flow (buy & hold). 

After having listened to quite a few BP podcasts, I am thinking of starting out with a small multi-family investment between 2 - 4 units. If I understand correctly I can use an FHA loan to buy a property with up to four units. My goal is to ramp up the number rental units as quickly as possible to generate enough cash flow to compete with my day job.

I look forward to participating in the forums and learning what I can about investing, particularly in the San Antonio area.

Thanks!

[Andy H.]

Welcome!

My understanding is that FHA loans are for owner-occupants only. If you plan on living in one of the units and renting out the rest (referred to around here as "house hacking"), then an FHA loan can work for what you described. But if you are planning on renting out all the units, I don't think you can get an FHA loan.

Be sure to check out the meetup hosted by @Chad Clanton on the first Tuesday of every month (San Antonio Real Estate Investors Discussion Group). If you setup a keyword alert for "San Antonio", you should see his post a couple of weeks before each event (or you can look it up on meetup.com)