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24
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11
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Annalisa Brown
  • Virtual Assistant
  • Port Angeles, WA
11
Votes |
24
Posts

Advice please! Should I go for it in Fresno or Visalia?

Annalisa Brown
  • Virtual Assistant
  • Port Angeles, WA
Posted

Hi guys! I live in Sequoia National Park, have a "fair" credit score (up from zero in a year with a secured loan as my only line of credit), 10k in savings, a wealth of knowledge, specific goals, and high risk tolerance. I am a server living in employee housing for just over $100/month, 2 hours away from both Fresno and Visalia, the closest major cities to me, with no cell phone service but dependable access to internet and a community landline phone using the lodge. I am 23 years old and want to be "able" to retire at 35 using multifamily buy and hold real estate, but I love working and being involved and hands on so I don't ever plan to stop, I just want to be able to step away from my business and travel the world throughout the year. My original plan was to save up about 50k ( I can save 10-20k a year where I am at) and my husband I have been planning to move to Port Angeles in Washington and I wanted to start my investment career there. but the more that I learn, the more I realize that I can buy a 4plex just down the mountain from me with a residential FHA loan with 3.5% down by the end of the summer, if not spring. I can choose either Clovis or Visalia, but I see much more for sale in Visalia and feel that it is more affordable. I can move in to one unit and keep my job up here earning this stable income, but I won't be there often and would probably need to hire a property manager, even though I originally wanted to wait until I can be hands on for the first year or two to learn the ropes firsthand before outsourcing and scaling up. Should I pull the trigger, or wait another couple years? Thank you for your time!

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User Stats

19
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11
Votes
Kathryn MacGeraghty
  • Property Manager
  • Sequim, WA
11
Votes |
19
Posts
Kathryn MacGeraghty
  • Property Manager
  • Sequim, WA
Replied

I love multi-units. I guess you need to live in it for the FHA loan, but your current rent is a screaming deal! Getting a fixed rate loan is good too, since we never know what future interest rates might be. But with such a low down payment, the investment may be risky. Analyze the cash flow, be generous with repair & maintenance estimates, and make sure you can weather rent fluctuations-emergencies-vacancies for both the long and short run.

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