Hello, I am a 19-year-old college student. I am looking to get my first rental property in Indiana but am struggling to figure out good financing options. I am also wondering if it would be a bad time to invest in real estate right now and if I should wait. I am eager to get my first property as soon as possible, but do not want to take on too much risk for my first property.
My recommendation for you would be to contact a handful of lenders in your area, let them know what your short term goals are regarding your purchase, and let them tell you how they can help you. I would recommend starting with small local banks. Also, you can post to you local Facebook investor groups asking for lender recommendations in your area. By doing this, you will be given the options you are looking for in terms of financing. If I were you, I would consider house hacking as an option as well.
In terms of the market, no one knows what tomorrow will look like. If you can find a good deal today, then a deal is a deal. With today's prices, you just need to think long term vs seeing massive cashflow today (not that its not possible).
Dive in and get to it! Good luck on your journey Nick.
Is a house hack a goal of yours in the future? Study the requirements for an FHA loan like a book and make sure to set yourself up for success. Examples would be building up your credit, getting the most recent tax returns for the last 2 years in the same field, building up capital for the down payment, closing costs and 6 months in reserves so you can use as much of the rental income from the other units as your own income when you getting qualified. These are some barriers I had to make sure to be able to climb over. Let me know what questions you have.
*This isn't legal or lending advice, and you should seek professional assistance.