Help Buying First 4Plex

[Account Closed]

Hello,

I am wanting to purchase my first piece of real estate. I would like this to be a 4plex, as it is small enough to grind my teeth with. I have no real estate experience and a massive desire to get this going. 

I live in Dallas. There are two routes.. 1.) Live in one of the residences with a conventional loan and a small down payment, or 2.) Purchase the deal as an investment, and pay a higher down payment and interest.

I would also be willing to purchase the property as a joint venture. Right now, my timeline is about 1 year out, so about September 2021, as this will allow me to save between around $30,000.

My goal here is to gain experience in operating, purchasing, and working on real estate.

What do you think about this plan?

Thanks,

Nick 

[Account Closed]

@Account Closed, first off, congrats for wanting to get started. Between the options, if you're in a position to live in one of the units, I think that would probably be a better option. Presumably, you'd need somewhere to live anyway, so it takes care of that while only sacrificing 25% of cash flow which is more than offset by not having to pay rent or another mortgage.

Also, you can potentially get in with a much lower down payment, saving that capital for repairs or the next investment. Be aware, if you were thinking of using an FHA loan, you'd need to look into self-sufficiency requirements.