newbie from Chicago southwest looking for 1st rental property

[David P.]

Looking for my 1st rental property and advice

[Dmitriy Fomichenko]

@David P.

Welcome to the BP family, you came to the right place to learn all about real estate investing!

Read Beginner’s Guide to help you get started: http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing

Wishing you the best!

[Paul De Luca]

@David P.

Welcome to the forums! 

• Where are you searching?
• Do you want a single family home or multi-family property? If multi-family, would you live in one of the units?
• Have you spoken with a lender to get pre-approved?
• How much cash do you have for a down payment, closing costs, and rehab?

All the above questions are meant to get you thinking about what you want and what makes sense for you.

Many new investors start out by doing a traditional house hack in a multi-family property, meaning they live in one unit and rent out the other units. It's an attractive strategy for the following reasons:

1. Dipping your toe into the world of real estate investing/landlording since you live in the property. You're only managing 1-3 tenants depending on the unit count.
2. Owner occupants get favorable financing terms (low money down).
3. Minimal risk since you are paying for your own housing and having someone else help pay for it.
4. You get to know your properties pretty well by living in them.

I highly recommend getting started by house hacking!

[Alejandro Calixto]

@David P.

Hi and welcome. Before my first property investment I did a lot of educating and communicating. You already found one of the best places for both. You can find a lot of ways to educate yourself here (podcasts, book lists/suggestions, REI associations, etc.). The communication part got a little harder in some areas due to COVID but it is not impossible. There are still meetups that happen. Some are virtual for the moment.

The next step for me was getting my "team" together. I found a realtor first. Someone who understood what I wanted to do and where I was at. A great realtor then can provide contacts and direction. This is where you can get your lender, attorney, contractors, and all other contacts you might need to get going. I found my realtor by looking for meetups and I found someone that had just started a meetup where I was looking to invest. I highly suggest @John Warren's meetups. He is full of knowledge and good leadership and always brings great people to provide some info.

Get together with a good realtor and lender. They should help you narrow down what path might be best for you.

Happy hunting on whatever you do. Feel free to reach out if I can help with anything.

-Alejandro Calixto