All Forum Posts by: Christopher Smith

Hey everyone. My wife and I have been prepairing to buy our first multifamily for the past couple years. We've read Brandons books multiple times plus dozens of others and feel that there's nothing left to do besides jump in. We live in an expensive area and expect a 4 unit property to cost somwhere in the 300-400ks. Our plan is to get into a 4 unit with an FHA loan with a 3.5% down payment (which we have) and let the tennants pay down the morgage. Then do it again in a couple years with another property (house hack). This is the quickest way for us to get into investment real estate with the amount of income we have.

My question is this: We've analyzed several deals in our target area and found that if we're going to live in one of the units, it causes the property to not cash flow. Usually only by $100-$200 a month but no matter how we spin it, we cant seem to get it to work. Is that typical for a house hack appraoch? Are our expectations too high? Or are we passing up perfectly healthy deals? 

Even if we bought one of these properties and paid $100-$200/mo towards the mortgage, it'd still be better than throwing our money away to rent every month. ....right? Or should we keep waiting and looking for that one deal that will break even - even while we're one of the tennants? 

Hello. My name is Chris. I'm new to BP. And to investing in real estate.  I'm currently a builder/remodeler in Stonington CT operating in southeastern CT and southern RI. My fiance is a designer in Old Saybrook CT. I am interested in buy and hold investing between Stonington and Providence - specifically in Westerly RI. I'm still absorbing as much information as I can about this market though and haven't made a final decision where my farm area will be. Right now I am renting and will stay here until after the wedding (august) and until we can find a distressed 3-4 plex in our area. Our plan is to house hack/leap frog for a few years until we can buy a home where we can settle in and grow into, then I will pursue real estate investing as a full time job. I enjoy working so I am excited about the challenges and opportunities to come. Real estate has always been an interest of mine but until the idea of starting a family and planning for the future came, I never pursued it. I expect that BP will be my greatest resource in the future.