Just made an account here to try and organize my thoughts as I don't know where to begin. I'm sure I will not provide the proper information for you all to give me the right advice but this is what I've got:
I'm a somewhat recently married 36-year-old dude. My wife and I have been living in Los Angeles for over a decade. Working professionals in the film & TV industry. Since Covid, I work from home. Recently we've started talking about having a kid, probably sometime in the next year. Our current apartment is too small for that. We don't want to move out of Los Angeles as our friends and (more importantly) our careers are here.
We want to own property.
My father is retiring after working in the post office for forty years and is a widower. He's back in New Jersey where I grew up, but he's all on his own and I want to bring him out to Los Angeles so he's not lonely in his retirement years.
For the past five years, my wife and I have lived in an apartment together, and before that, I lived with two guys in another apartment nearby. The four of us are all close friends and we hang out regularly and have a good rapport.
As we all know, the housing market in Los Angeles is incredibly rough. My wife and I won't be able to afford a house on our own, much less one that will have an ADU for my dad, as he would most likely want some amount of privacy and freedom and not just a room in our house. Having done the barest of research, we've looked into the idea of pooling our money to try and buy a multifamily for my wife and I, my dad, and the two friends, as the two friends also want to stop renting and to start owning, even if it is part of a multifamily/apartment building. A place that has enough units that we could have renters beyond ourselves that would help offset the mortgage payments we would be paying.
The breakdown of what we know we have saved up that can be used for a downpayment:
My wife and I: $165,000~, can probably get that to $200,000 within a year. Our combined income is, on average, around $230,000 a year. My credit is above 800. My wife's is in the high 700s.
My Dad: $50,000-250,000 (the range is dependent on if he were to sell the NJ house and divest himself of the East Coast completely, or sell the NJ house and buy a NJ condo and use the difference to help contribute to a unit out here in LA. Just depends on how attached he is emotionally to NJ. The NJ house is probably not going to sell for a lot either way. As a postal employee, he has a guaranteed pension, but not a lot of savings -- I know, complications, complications). His pension plus survivor benefits will net him around $80,000 a year but I'd like to not have to rely on him spending too much in his retirement for this beyond the downpayment if possible. His credit is in the high 700s.
Friend 1: $25,000, within a year he expects to have $60,000, which he will keep upping to get him to $100,000. This is a big thorn in our side for the plan. He generally makes around $100,000 a year. I don't know his credit.
Friend 2: $400,000. He inherited and is willing to use it all on this endeavor. He also makes around $100,000 a year. I don't know his credit.
NOW
With all of that said, where do I go from here? I'm itching to learn as much as I can. I want to find a way to make this work. Tell me how I can make it happen, tell me how I'm an idiot and it's impossible. Tell me the books, the courses, the websites, the certifications-- whatever you think I need to know to not be as ignorant as I am now.
