Real Estate Agent · Myrtle Beach · Member since 2019 · 14 posts · 6 votes
Hello all, I am new to Bigger Pockets and I am seeking some advice!
I am looking to purchase a house for around 350k in Suffolk County on Long Island. My plan is to purchase either a mother-daughter or home with a finished basement apartment. Being I'm alone, I plan to live in the smaller area of the home and rent out the larger portion. Through certain circumstances, I have the means to purchase this home in cash. Through research and gathering information, I have learned that buying a home cash is not my best option at the moment especially with mortgage rates being below 4%. Being that i only work off the books on the weekend for a little extra money,I have no verifiable income. The off the book income I do make is not nearly enough to satisfy the debt to income ratio that many banks require. I am willing to put down 30% or even 40% on the home if it means not taking such a large capital hit.
If you guys have any advice or solutions I would greatly appreciate it!
@Eric Brust I'd start talking to small local banks about the possibility of financing. While nothing may come of it, you may find the needle in the haystack bank that will finance your purchase. Otherwise, some HML lenders have rental loan products that start at 6% interest. You can run the numbers and see if that makes sense versus buying all cash. Otherwise it is nice to still have the option to buy all cash, and live for free.
I've been helping a buddy find properties in suffolk in that range, and a little lower.
Finding opportunities in Patchogue & Bellport primarily based on the alert criteria - Maybe focus your search there.
Basement apartments or M/D may run into local zoning issues or laws - so I would check in on that too. Plus from what I've found a lot of homes that far out in Suffolk don't have basements - though that may just be an anomaly (I know its true of the Bohemia area though, and stuff south of Sunrise.
If you plan on living in the home yourself - you can get away with as little as 3.5% down through an FHA loan. I would definitely speak with a lender and maybe even look to get prequalified first if you don't plan on purchasing cash outright.
I just came across your post. I don't know if you're still looking, but if you're planning on living in the property & are a "1st time home buyer" (which at least used to mean you didn't own your home in the last 3 years), you might be eligible for one of NYS's low interest/low downpayment homebuyer programs - see their page at