All Forum Posts by: George B.

Hello again everyone,

I'm trying to make my first home purchase. Of course, my ambition to become a serious investor makes me see opportunity everywhere and I find myself wanting to buy every opportunity I see, but I simply can't afford it yet. As someone has said once before, I have "wine tastes and beer pockets."

But as I consider my circumstances, I still want to buy SOMETHING. My rent for a 1-bedroom is $1150 a month, which is really low for my area (New York City/North-eastern New Jersey), especially considering that I locked in that rate 2 years ago. I feel like I'm throwing away money when I could be putting it towards a solid purchase.

As I consider what I can buy, it seems like I'm limited to "rough" parts of Newark and Jersey City, as they still provide a reasonable commute to Manhattan (where I work) and seem like my best shot at something affordable.

My question is, would this be a prudent investment? For example, if I bought a 2-family as an owner-occupant, or even a single family or condo in one of these areas, does the investment outweigh the potential downsides? Obviously a portion of this discussion is personal, but I'm looking for guidance from the people that know best. Please share your thoughts. Thank you in advance!

Joel, Simon, thank you so much for your responses. I really appreciate your help and insight. Looks like it's back to the drawing board for me. I've been talking to a mortgage person and I think I'm on a better path now.

Hi Joel,

Thank you for your helpful response. And thanks for the correction on FHA.

Forgive me if I'm reading too far into your post, but are you suggesting that, if I qualify, I may be able to purchase Property B on a less-than-20% mortgage and then buy Property A on an FHA mortgage if I prefer?

Hello all,

My name is George. I'm a young guy who has discovered a passion for real estate, I've been reading the forums and articles for a while, I LOVE this site, and I'm finally ready to begin investing! :D But I need your help.

There are two, 2-family properties I am interested in purchasing right now. Let's call them Property A and Property B:

Property A

• Short Sale
• List price: 165,000
• My intended offer: 110,000
• Very minor work required (mainly cleaning and painting)

Property B

• Not a short sale
• List price: 148,000
• My intended offer: 140,000 (seller is not very negotiable)
• No work required

Both properties will cash flow, pass the 50% rule, etc. Originally, before I educated myself, I thought, "oh, I'll just buy Property B as an FHA property with 3% down and put in an offer on Property A...and since short sales usually take much longer to close, I will have at least 5% to close on Property A as a conventional 5% property in the event that the bank accepts my offer" :) HA! -- Now that I am educated, I realize I need at least 20% down to buy Property A.

Unless I hit the lotto, there is virtually no chance I could have ~$22,000 in a few months to buy Property A.

My questions for you all are:

1. Can I buy both of these properties?
2. If so, is there another way for me, a rookie, to buy Property A with much less than 20% or, dare I say, NO money down?
3. Do you have any other creative suggestions for me?

Thanks in advance and sorry for the long post!