New member from Detroit, Michigan area

New member from Detroit, Michigan area

Dearborn Heights, MI · Member since 2017 · 17 posts · 2 votes

Hey my name is Mustafa and I am extremely excited to get into the real estate game.

My family immigrated here 15 years ago and I've lived in Michigan since that time!

The journey to BiggerPockets started with my interested since I was very young in flipping homes. After graduating high school and starting my courses I kind of lost the drive to follow the house flipping bug. Eventually I realized that even my engineering job wasn't going to make me happy and I need to find something that gets me excited, so for the past month I have been browsing Reddit, listening to Podcasts, and watching YouTube videos. This past month has shown me a lot, first I realized that I don't actually want to flip houses. As soon as I started learning about wholesaling or multi family rentals I knew instantly that I wanted to shift my focus onto those two. To know that there is something out there that makes me so giddy and excited to start doing one day makes me feel more comfortable towards what my future will look like.

What I hope to gain from BiggerPockets is the necessary connections to be successful and know how to navigate the world of real estate investing. My goal is to find someone who will let me work underneath them and help them out with tasks they find nauseating and allow me to learn the trade first hand. But if this plan doesn't work out I hope that I can learn enough on the forums to be able to invest in my first multi family in the Michigan area. I think what makes me nervous is my very low credit score because of loans and my very low down payment, I wouldn't really have more than $10k to put down, so I will have to find more help from you wonderful people in learning the tricks of the trade.

Thanks for reading all that, I know it was a lot, I am excited to be here and I hope I become like some of you amazing investors out the

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Keyonte SummersPro Member
Harper Woods, MI · Member since 2017 · 384 posts · 311 votes
8y

@Mustafa Ahmad welcome to BP. I am a fellow Michigan native and live and invest in the metro detroit area. At this point for you I would start a plan to save and reduce your debt. I'm currently still in school and work full time and still find time to make analyze deals and create an investment plan. You are on the right track finding someone to work with. If I were you I would try and find an amazing deal and partner with someone that has the funds or credit to back you. You have 10k or so so depending on purchase/rehab cost it might be enough to have some skin in the game to make extra cash for your next deal.

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  • Rental Property Investor · Miami, FL · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 911 votes
    8y

    Welcome to Bigger Pockets Mustafa! 

  • Dearborn Heights, MI · Member since 2017 · 17 posts · 2 votes
    8y

    Thanks Antoine!

  • Keyonte SummersPro Member
    Harper Woods, MI · Member since 2017 · 384 posts · 311 votes
    8y

    @Mustafa Ahmad welcome to BP. I am a fellow Michigan native and live and invest in the metro detroit area. At this point for you I would start a plan to save and reduce your debt. I'm currently still in school and work full time and still find time to make analyze deals and create an investment plan. You are on the right track finding someone to work with. If I were you I would try and find an amazing deal and partner with someone that has the funds or credit to back you. You have 10k or so so depending on purchase/rehab cost it might be enough to have some skin in the game to make extra cash for your next deal.

  • Dearborn Heights, MI · Member since 2017 · 17 posts · 2 votes
    8y

    @Keyonte Summers

    I'm in the same boat I still have a few more semesters and I'll be done with school. I was fortunate enough to find a fulltime engineering intern job my sophomore year in a very good company who wanted me to work through school so I know how you feel. Fulltime work and school gets very demanding, but I've realized that I also wasted a lot of time when I wasn't in class or work just not working towards my interests. I like what you're doing and I've been able to set aside 10 hours each week to actually learn some aspects of real estate that will help me in the future. I'm glad you think 10k isn't as little as I was imaging so I appreciate the advice and will follow up with some investors I know. How many properties are you invested in if you don't mind me asking?

  • Investor · Ann Arbor, MI · Member since 2016 · 69 posts · 38 votes
    8y

    Hi @Mustafa Ahmad,

    Welcome to BP! If you are serious about getting started in real estate investing, it sounds like your best bet would be to leverage a FHA 203k loan for a "house hack" into a 2-4 unit property. FHA only requires 3% down and is forgiving about low credit scores. Plus, when you live in one of the units, it greatly reduces the risk of the investment. You should be able to find a property that meets your needs near Dearborn Heights. Best of luck!

  • Dearborn Heights, MI · Member since 2017 · 17 posts · 2 votes
    8y

    This is actually what I am currently planning on moving towards, unfortunately what I'm finding on sites like Zillow or Trulia do not meet my search for 3-4 unit multifamily. I'm actually going to meet with a local agent in the area to hopefully get a relationship going and find better deals to move forward with. I'm very serious and I'm glad you mentioned this because I agree that I'll never learn what RE investing truly is until I've tried it myself. Thank you so much for the guidance I do appreciate it!

  • Solo 401k Expert · Anaheim Hills, CA · Member since 2012 · 18k+ posts · 6k+ votes
    8y

    @Mustafa Ahmad

    Welcome to the BP family! Great that you joined the site! Here are some recommendations for you:

    Find and connect with other BP members that are in your area: http://www.biggerpockets.com/meet
    Set up keyword alerts to be notified of the topics that interest you: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts
    Read Beginner’s Guide: http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing
    Check out BP Podcasts: http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/category/podcast/

    Wishing you the best!

  • Investor · Ferndale, MI · Member since 2016 · 50 posts · 19 votes
    8y
    Welcome! I'm over in the oak park area and just got started last year with my first flip with my family. Now we are on the second but I've moved into the backseat on that one as an investor/designer while my girlfriend and I start our rental plan. We are house hacking a duplex right now to get a jump start. The best advice has already been given here. Lower your monthly costs and free up more money to save/invest! It has done wonders for me! I got rid of a new car and bought an old truck(which is way more useful for this business) and now with the house hacking we will be living for free and earning a few hundred on top of that! Leaves us plenty of free money to keep working on our duplex and then move on to a single family homes until we can FHA another duplex in a year or so! Plus, with low monthly expenses, you can become financially free earlier if you choose to. Good luck with everything!
  • Dearborn Heights, MI · Member since 2017 · 17 posts · 2 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Diego Ortega:

    Welcome! I'm over in the oak park area and just got started last year with my first flip with my family. Now we are on the second but I've moved into the backseat on that one as an investor/designer while my girlfriend and I start our rental plan. We are house hacking a duplex right now to get a jump start.

     You are living my dream man, congratulations on actually having the will to do all of that and good luck to you for all your future endeavors! How much did the duplex cost you? Did you have to fix a lot of it?

  • Investor · Ferndale, MI · Member since 2016 · 50 posts · 19 votes
    8y

    @Mustafa Ahmad

    The duplex was 190k, but we did an FHA mortgage. So that's about $6650 in a down payment and then there are closing costs, which to be safe, you should assume is about $5,000. But we got the owner to cover almost all of it during negotiations when some things came up.

    We redid most of the cosmetic stuff, so all in all we've put in about 30k total so far. The down payment, closing, and upgrades are all included in that. The nice thing is the mortgage is $1,250 and we can rent out one side for about $1500. So we live for free, get our utilities mostly paid, and then cashflow when we move out in a year!

    We had money saved to get this going and doing most of the work ourselves has helped a ton. A bit of stress for 2-3 months, but totally worth it! Excited to move on to something smaller though so we can move faster, lol.

  • Rental Property Investor · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 880 votes
    8y

    Welcome to Bigger Pockets Mustafa!

  • Keyonte SummersPro Member
    Harper Woods, MI · Member since 2017 · 384 posts · 311 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Mustafa Ahmad:

    @Keyonte Summers

    I'm in the same boat I still have a few more semesters and I'll be done with school. I was fortunate enough to find a fulltime engineering intern job my sophomore year in a very good company who wanted me to work through school so I know how you feel. Fulltime work and school gets very demanding, but I've realized that I also wasted a lot of time when I wasn't in class or work just not working towards my interests. I like what you're doing and I've been able to set aside 10 hours each week to actually learn some aspects of real estate that will help me in the future. I'm glad you think 10k isn't as little as I was imaging so I appreciate the advice and will follow up with some investors I know. How many properties are you invested in if you don't mind me asking?

     I currently have 4 under my belt as of now but after I close the end of this month im will tap into equity from my free and clear homes for further deals. I am doing all this without a private lender im still learning also so dont want get taken advantage of by a private lender.

  • Dearborn Heights, MI · Member since 2017 · 17 posts · 2 votes
    8y

    @Diego Ortega

    Wow that is an amazing story and I am glad it worked out for you and I hope you find that smaller property that nets you more!

    Also today I visited a real estate agent who was a young lady about my age, she didn't really seem like she knew what she was talking about when it came to FHA loans and their policy, but I'll go ahead and ask you anyway. She said that if I get a FHA loan to buy a multi family property that I would not be able to rent out the remainder of the units because it is against FHA rules and she mentioned it had to do with the insurance somehow. I feel very skeptical about her claim, so I just wanted to ask you if you knew anything about that.

    Thank you!

  • Dearborn Heights, MI · Member since 2017 · 17 posts · 2 votes
    8y

    @Keyonte Summers

    Do private lenders take advantage of new buyers often? Or is it just to mitigate the risk of one doing that to you. Also are you just using FHA loans to get started or how did you get the ball rolling?

    Thanks for all your help too!

  • Investor · Ferndale, MI · Member since 2016 · 50 posts · 19 votes
    8y

    @Mustafa Ahmad

    As long as you live in one of the units for at least a year I believe. Anyone, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. We just did it through our lender. If you want out of the FHA you need to refinance a year or more later. But the nice thing is you can do it all over again. There are a lot of articles on this website about that. :)

  • Birmingham, MI · Member since 2016 · 8 posts · 2 votes
    8y
    Welcome, what areas are you looking at?  I am an investor and an agent!  We should look to connect.  Shoot me a message.  Zillow isn't always the best place to find active listings.  I am 2 years into my Real Estate journey and would love to have a partner that wants to house hack!! 

    keep learning and make sure you konw your plan and you wont fail. 

    Originally posted by @Mustafa Ahmad:

    This is actually what I am currently planning on moving towards, unfortunately what I'm finding on sites like Zillow or Trulia do not meet my search for 3-4 unit multifamily. I'm actually going to meet with a local agent in the area to hopefully get a relationship going and find better deals to move forward with. I'm very serious and I'm glad you mentioned this because I agree that I'll never learn what RE investing truly is until I've tried it myself. Thank you so much for the guidance I do appreciate it!

  • Keyonte SummersPro Member
    Harper Woods, MI · Member since 2017 · 384 posts · 311 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Mustafa Ahmad:

    @Keyonte Summers

    Do private lenders take advantage of new buyers often? Or is it just to mitigate the risk of one doing that to you. Also are you just using FHA loans to get started or how did you get the ball rolling?

    Thanks for all your help too!

    All of my loans have been conventional so far and I just dont know the in and out of lenders yet so thats why i dont use them right now. 

  • Dearborn Heights, MI · Member since 2017 · 17 posts · 2 votes
    8y

    @Diego Ortega

    Everything I've read online says exactly what you have been saying and there seems to be a lot of multifamily FHA renters out there so I think she may just not be experienced in this type of loan purchase. Thank you once again for all your help!

  • Dearborn Heights, MI · Member since 2017 · 17 posts · 2 votes
    8y

    @Jake Herbert

    Hey Jake, sent a message your way. Looking forward to finding something with your help my friend!

  • Wendy PattonBusiness Member
    Real Estate Consultant · Clarkston, MI · Member since 2009 · 859 posts · 349 votes
    8y

    Hi @Mustafa Ahmad,

    Congratulations on all you have accomplished so far. There is a lot of advice on biggerpockets and a ton of investors. Could I also suggest you join your local REIA group or at least go to one. There are a lot of investors there looking to network, that would include people with money and vendors. To find your local REIA you can go to events on here or even to meetup.com to find a local group

    Michigan Real Estate Investors533 Reviews
  • Real Estate Agent · Brighton, MI · Member since 2017 · 72 posts · 18 votes
    8y
    Welcome to BP Mustafa! I’m a realtor in Michigan, I would love to connect with you for any future endeavors! Good luck!
  • Dearborn Heights, MI · Member since 2017 · 17 posts · 2 votes
    8y

    @Wendy Patton

    Thank you very much Wendy and I definitely have a very long way to go on my journey.

    And I will absolutely be attending a meeting soon. My biggest hurdle is the lack of connections, but these meetings will help me connect with REI in the area and hopefully that will make my first purchase easier to handle with their guidance. People like you inspire me to succeed more and work towards understanding the RE business. What I know is that real estate excites me and has captured my mind and interest, so I'll hold onto the passion and leverage it to get better and better.

  • Dearborn Heights, MI · Member since 2017 · 17 posts · 2 votes
    8y

    @Andrew McManamon

    Hey Andrew, thank you and I will definitely keep you in mind!

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