New Hopeful Investor From Massachusetts

[Nicholas Alves]

Hello everyone, how are all of you today? 

My name is Nicholas I am 25 Years old and I am from South Coast Massachusetts.

I joined after reading a book written by one of your members (what a great book!)

My intention at the moment is too purchase my first home with a first time buyer program. I'm thinking for now my best bet would be to purchase a duplex, live in one side and rent out the other until the first year mandatory residency is over.

Unfortunately my fico score is a bit lower then I would like at 680, I have always been good with paying my bills but there was a 5 month period in 2018 where I didn't pay my car bill on time believing it was on auto pay (I know I am going to get a lecture and you would be right, I know it was a mistake and wont happen again.) For the record i have north of 20k to use for a down payment or repairs.

Some background, my father is a real estate investor with a successful construction business and his business partner is a successful investor/ wholesaler. I plan to utilize them as much as possible. My uncle also operates a large construction company so any homes that would need rehab I would have a contractor that I trust.

I really hope to be a part of this community and maybe if you guys have any local meet ups in the MA / RI area I could attend at some point.

Just a few questions if any of you have time. Is there a certain first time buyer program I should look into? I know my Fico score is lower then optimal but I do believe it will be possible. Are there specific first time buyer loans that have a "fixer upper" benefit as I would love to be able to utilize my uncles construction company and give him some work.

Thank You for taking the time to read this!

~Nicholas

[Jonathan Bombaci]

Hi Nicholas welcome and congratulations on your decision to househack. In my opinion that is the best way to get started in real estate. You certainly have a lot going for you and yes you should absolutely leverage your family as a competitive advantage.

to answer you questions a 680 credit score is more than high enough for a fha loan. I’d recommend talking to a lender they can go through you loan options but 680 is high enough for many programs. 

You may want to explore a 203k loan. It allows you to roll rehab costs into the cost of the loan at 3.5% down since it's a fha product. It's a gear program but most agents / lenders are in experienced with the product so make sure your team understands if. Does your uncle, or someone he employs, have a construction supervisor license? If so they can be your contractor through the FHA 203k program.

I hope this helps feel free to reachout if you want to go deeper on any of these. I’m always happy to help newbie investors trying to start out the right way.

Best of luck!