First time home buyer.

[Andre Albano]

currently im roomate with my friends house. I have been preaproved to $180k fha home loan. Planning to put down 20%. Now my question. Is it a good idea to put down 20% on my first house? Then save up money again for my second property to make cash flow?  Or put as little as money down on my first house then put down 20% on my second property in a year?  Thank you! 

[Mindy Jensen]

Welcome to BiggerPockets, @Andre Albano! You are in the right spot to learn about real estate.

@Brent Paul had some great questions. Another thing to think about is PMI or Private Mortgage Insurance. PMI is required if you put less than 20% down on the house, and it can cost you hundreds of dollars every month. The old mortgage terms allowed you to remove PMI once you hit 20% equity in the property, whether by paying down the loan or the property appreciating. New regulations since the housing crash state PMI stays with the loan for the life of the loan, meaning you must refinance into a new loan to remove the PMI.

Brent also recommended you check out the Learn tab at the top of the page. You have already found the forums. Have you checked out the Blog or the Podcast yet? Both are filled with great information about real estate.

If you are brand-spanking new to the site, go to the Start Here page.

Another strategy you may not have thought of yet is house hacking. You are currently renting a room in someone else's house - have you thought about purchasing a home and renting those rooms out? It would be possible for you to live free or almost free by renting the rooms and using the rent payments to pay your mortgage.

Good luck!