First-Time Real Estate Investor with ~$600K Available: What Would You Do in My Positi

Lender · Tampa/Saint Petersburg, FL · Member since 2014 · 379 posts · 152 votes

Hi Sage! First off, you're in a position to get started, especially with the capital you have available.

I'm a real estate investor myself and a mortgage broker, so I'll give you my perspective from both sides.

Personally, I'd explore the house hacking route before jumping into an out of state investment. One of the biggest advantages is being able to leverage owner occupied financing on a 2-4 unit property, potentially with as little as 3–5% down depending on the loan program and your qualifications. That allows you to preserve more of your capital for future investments.

I'd also be careful about purchasing under your father's name solely to preserve first time homebuyer benefits. You don't necessarily need to be a first time buyer to qualify for low down payment conventional financing later. One thing I'd want to understand is whether your primary goal is monthly cash flow or long term appreciation. That would really influence which direction I'd go.

Would love to connect further and understand more about your long term goals.

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Sage NA
OP
Reston, VA · Member since 2026 · 4 posts · 3 votes
1d
Thanks so much for the advice! For my first property, my primary goal is to generate positive monthly cash flow rather than focus on long-term appreciation. I'd ideally like to build a portfolio of rental properties over time and gradually create a steady stream of passive income outside of my SWE career.
I'm definitely open to house hacking, but since I'll likely be working in NYC after graduation, I'm not sure how feasible that would be given how expensive housing is there. That's why I'm also considering investing in more affordable markets where the numbers might make more sense from a cash flow perspective. I'm still very new to all of this, though, so I'm open to any suggestions or advice on what might be the best approach!
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Diana KhanPro Member

Attorney · 10451 Mill Run Cir #755 Owings Mills, MD 21117 · Member since 2024 · 806 posts · 289 votes

1d

Quote from @Sage K:

Hi everyone! I'm pretty new to real estate investing and would love some advice on where to start.

I'm currently finishing up my second bachelor's degree in Computer Science and will most likely end up working in NYC as a software engineer after graduation. I've previously interned at AWS and have another internship lined up at Coinbase next summer, so I'm hoping to land a full-time role with around $200K in total compensation by 2028.

With how volatile the SWE job market has been lately, I'd really like to build additional sources of income outside of my career. I've been interested in real estate investing for a while, particularly owning rental properties and becoming a landlord.

For context, I currently have around $200K saved up, and my father is willing to contribute another $400K, so I'd potentially have around $600K to work with. I definitely don't want to put all of that into a single property, though.

I'm currently based in Northern Virginia and am familiar with the DMV area, but I'm open to investing elsewhere.

My initial thought was to purchase a fourplex in a more affordable market like Atlanta, Texas, or Virginia. However, since I'll most likely be living in NYC, I'm also wondering if buying a duplex there and house hacking would be a smarter move, especially with potential first-time homebuyer benefits and owner-occupied financing options.

Another thought I had was purchasing an investment property under my father's name to preserve my first-time homebuyer eligibility for when I eventually buy my own home, but I'm not sure whether that would actually be beneficial.

I'd love some advice from more experienced investors:

Given my situation, what investment strategy would you recommend starting with?
Are there any particular cities or markets you'd recommend for a first-time investor?
Would you prioritize house hacking in NYC or buying a rental property in a more affordable market?
Would purchasing under my father's name make sense, or would the potential complications outweigh the benefits?

I'm still very early in the learning process and not set on any particular strategy, property type, or location. My main goal is to build long-term wealth and generate additional income alongside my career.

If you were in my position, what would you do? I'm open to any and all suggestions, including completely different approaches I haven't considered. I'd really appreciate hearing from more experienced investors. Thanks in advance!

@Sage K, if I were in your position, I'd first figure out where I plan to live and how I want to manage the property before choosing a market. House hacking could be worth exploring if you'll actually be living in NYC, but with your career plans still developing, I wouldn't rush into buying there. As for putting the property under your father's name, I'd be careful with that approach. It may not be necessary to preserve first-time homebuyer benefits, depending on the program, and it could create complications with ownership.

In my experience with previous clients as a real estate attorney and broker in Maryland, I've seen how important it is for family members investing together to be clear about their arrangements from the beginning. For example, if your father contributes $400K while you handle the property, you'd want to agree on whether that money is a gift, loan, or investment, who owns the property, and how profits and responsibilities will be shared.

I appreciate you sharing your plans, @Sage K! It's great that you're thinking about these things before making your first purchase. Family investments and property ownership are areas I work with, so your question caught my attention. Wishing you success, and happy to stay connected!

[email protected]240-266-0291

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Sage NA
OP
Reston, VA · Member since 2026 · 4 posts · 3 votes
1d
Thanks so much for the advice! I'll most likely be living in NYC after graduation, so I'm leaning toward investing in a more affordable market outside of NYC, especially since my main priority is generating positive monthly cash flow and NYC real estate is so expensive.
You also bring up a great point about structuring the investment with my father. We haven't worked out all the details yet, so that's definitely something we'll need to discuss before moving forward. Really appreciate your insight!
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Jimmy LieuBusiness Member

Real Estate Agent · Columbus, OH · Member since 2019 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes

10h

Welcome, Amber, and congrats on building that kind of runway before your first deal. Two things that help here: your plan to be in NYC means any property you own will be managed from a distance, so pick the market and the team first and the property second. And on buying under your dad's name, that gets tangled fast (title, financing, taxes, who owns the equity), so run it by a real estate attorney and a CPA before you decide anything.

On house hacking in NYC, owner-occupied financing is great, but 2-4 unit prices there usually make it hard to cash flow, and most owner-occupied loans expect you to actually live there for a year or so. Since you want cash flow, I'd lean to a cheaper market you can buy remotely.

Columbus, Ohio deserves a look for that. A lot of the deals I see there hit the 1% rule and cash flow after every expense, most with $20K-$30K of built-in equity at purchase, and single families mostly run $120K-$180K with multifamily starting around $200K. With $600K you could spread across a few doors instead of one big bet. Landlord-friendly rules help too. Happy to connect and introduce you to lenders and property managers here who work well with out-of-state investors.

[email protected]614-300-7535

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Harrison C.

Member since 2017 · 107 posts · 57 votes

10h

@Sage NA since cash flow is the goal and you'll be managing from New York, one option nobody has put on the table yet: in an affordable market, look at 4 and 5 bedroom single family houses rented by the room, not just fourplexes rented by the unit.

Each bedroom goes to a separate person on their own lease, everyone shares the kitchen and living room, and on the right house the rooms add up to well more than the whole house would rent for. It also takes the edge off vacancy, because when one person leaves you are still collecting from the rest instead of sitting at zero on a unit.

It isn't free money, so if you model it, change these lines: you pay every utility and internet, you furnish each room and the shared spaces once, you pay a cleaner for the kitchen and bathrooms on a schedule, and rooms turn over more often than families. Our rule is a house has to clear $1,000 a month after the mortgage and every one of those costs, or we pass.

Two checks before you fall for any market. Call the city and ask how many unrelated people can live in one house, because that number decides whether rooms work at all. And from a distance, the team matters more than usual: you need a local cleaner and handyman you trust, and a manager who actually does rooms, since a lot of managers only lease whole units.

On your dad's $400K, the attorney's point is the right one: agree in writing whether it's a gift, a loan or a share of the property before you buy anything.

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Gregory Vassilatos

Investor · Member since 2026 · 13 posts · 2 votes

10h

Sage, one thing I haven't seen mentioned yet. Since you're a student without W-2 income, most conventional investment loans are going to be tough right now. They want income history, and a future job offer usually won't cut it for an investment purchase.

That's where DSCR loans come in. They qualify you off the property's rent vs. the full payment (principal, interest, taxes, insurance), not your personal income, so they work well for buying rentals out of state. You'll usually put more down and pay a bit higher rate than conventional, and some lenders tighten things up for first-time investors with no landlord history, so ask about that early.

Also, how your dad's $400K is set up matters to the lender. A gift, a loan you have to pay back (which counts as debt), or him going on as a co-owner/guarantor all get treated differently. I'd figure that out before you go under contract because they're going to want a paper trail on those funds.

And on the NYC house hack, owner-occupied loans expect you to move in pretty quickly after closing and live there about a year, so only go that route if you're actually going to live there.

Once you narrow it down to a market and have a property in mind, I'm happy to run the numbers with you.

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Denise SuppleeBusiness Member

Realtor · Willow Grove, PA · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 666 votes

9h

If you're going to be living in NYC, I'd be careful about buying in a market you don't know well just because the numbers look better. Being a long-distance landlord means you need a really good team on the ground. I'd also ask yourself if you actually want the job of being a landlord while you're building a career. There are ways to invest in real estate without managing properties yourself, and that's something I'd consider with the amount of capital you're talking about. As far as putting a property in your father's name to preserve first-time buyer benefits, I'd talk to a lender and CPA before doing anything. There may be benefits, but there can also be complications. You don't have to figure out the perfect strategy right away. Take your time, learn the numbers, and decide what fits the life you want.

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Marc MoraPro Member

Investor · Fort Lauderdale, FL · Member since 2026 · 277 posts · 45 votes

9h

@Sage NA, your dad's $400K is what I'd sort out first. Whose name it's in and whether it's a loan or a stake will shape your first deal more than the city does. Raising capital is familiar ground for me. I'd be open to talking through the setup with you if that's useful. Does your dad want a vote on the purchase? Since you're not set on a strategy, which ones have caught your interest? I can talk strategy as well.

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Stephany G.

Investor · miami · Member since 2026 · 25 posts · 6 votes

8h

One thing to know before you decide how much of the $600k to use: with this much cash, it's easy to "buy" cash flow with a big down payment, and it can look better than it is. Made-up example: a $400k fourplex renting for $3,600 a month total, at 7%. With 25% down ($100k), the payment is about $2,000. Add ~$600 for taxes and insurance, and set aside 30% of rent for empty months, repairs and big replacements. You're at about -$75 a month. With 50% down ($200k), the payment drops to about $1,330, and now it makes ~$590 a month. That feels like a win, but $7,000 a year on $200k is a 3.5% return. Many safe savings options pay about that with zero tenants. So the real test isn't "does it cash flow," it's whether it still works at a normal 20-25% down. If it only works with half down, it's a weak deal. Two practical notes. Conventional lenders generally won't let gift money go toward an investment property (they do allow it for a home you'll live in), so how your dad's $400k comes in matters. Ask a lender how to structure it before you shop. And buy one property, run it for 6-12 months, then decide on the next. Your first year as a landlord will teach you more than any spreadsheet.

I made a free tool that runs a property at different down payments from an address. It's in my profile if it's useful.

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Jimmy Samaha

Staten Island, NY · Member since 2013 · 146 posts · 73 votes

7h

Since you'll be working in NYC, I'd at least look at a two family in the outer boroughs before going out of state. I've been selling on Staten Island about 15 years and a lot of first time buyers live in one unit and rent the other, which can cover a good chunk of the mortgage even if it doesn't cash flow on paper while you live there. Just run the numbers both ways, what it costs you living there and what it would rent for fully once you move out, because that second number tells you if it's a keeper long term.

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Dan Worth

Pittsburgh, Allegheny County · Member since 2026 · 92 posts · 35 votes

7h

Sage, with that much capital the biggest risk is putting it to work too fast, so I'd buy one property, run it for a year and learn from it before buying the next one. On the father's-name idea, you generally count as a first-time buyer again after three years without owning a home, and owner-occupied loans don't require first-time status anyway, so titling it to him mostly adds complications about who owns, borrows on and is liable for the property. If NYC prices make a house hack unrealistic, pick one out-of-state market you can actually visit, with a manager you've interviewed, and underwrite it with real tax bills and insurance quotes rather than percentages. Also agree in writing with your dad whether his $400K is a gift, a loan or an equity stake before you spend any of it.

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Remington LymanBusiness Member

Real Estate Agent · Columbus, OH · Member since 2017 · 6k+ posts · 7k+ votes

5h

Quote from @Sage NA:

Hi everyone! I'm pretty new to real estate investing and would love some advice on where to start.

I'm currently finishing up my second bachelor's degree in Computer Science and will most likely end up working in NYC as a software engineer after graduation. I've previously interned at AWS and have another internship lined up at Coinbase next summer, so I'm hoping to land a full-time role with around $200K in total compensation by 2028.

With how volatile the SWE job market has been lately, I'd really like to build additional sources of income outside of my career. I've been interested in real estate investing for a while, particularly owning rental properties and becoming a landlord.

For context, I currently have around $200K saved up, and my father is willing to contribute another $400K, so I'd potentially have around $600K to work with. I definitely don't want to put all of that into a single property, though.

I'm currently based in Northern Virginia and am familiar with the DMV area, but I'm open to investing elsewhere.

My initial thought was to purchase a fourplex in a more affordable market like Atlanta, Texas, or Virginia. However, since I'll most likely be living in NYC, I'm also wondering if buying a duplex there and house hacking would be a smarter move, especially with potential first-time homebuyer benefits and owner-occupied financing options.

Another thought I had was purchasing an investment property under my father's name to preserve my first-time homebuyer eligibility for when I eventually buy my own home, but I'm not sure whether that would actually be beneficial.

I'd love some advice from more experienced investors:

Given my situation, what investment strategy would you recommend starting with?
Are there any particular cities or markets you'd recommend for a first-time investor?
Would you prioritize house hacking in NYC or buying a rental property in a more affordable market?
Would purchasing under my father's name make sense, or would the potential complications outweigh the benefits?

I'm still very early in the learning process and not set on any particular strategy, property type, or location. My main goal is to build long-term wealth and generate additional income alongside my career.

If you were in my position, what would you do? I'm open to any and all suggestions, including completely different approaches I haven't considered. I'd really appreciate hearing from more experienced investors. Thanks in advance!

Find a cheaper market than NYC and build out a solid team with a good Realtor, Property Manager, lender, and contractor

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First-Time Real Estate Investor with ~$600K Available: What Would You Do in My Positi

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