All Forum Posts by: Jeff F.

Sure. There's plenty of articles on the BP blog but here's the gist:

You can get a loan through a bank or mortgage broker that will be bought by fannie/freddie. You'll need 3.5% down (and this can be stacked with local down payment assistance programs in some cases). You can buy a house up to 4 units. You could buy one house to live in, or a duplex, triplex or quad. You find the broker, tell them you want FHA and then make an offer. FHA loans can get finnicky at times, but it will let you into a 225k property for about 8k. Live in one, rent the others.

Make sure to run all your numbers and have it make sense when you're not living there (ie - be able to cover PM, maint, cap ex, etc).

https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2015/03/2...

https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2012/11/08/fha-loan-multi-family-investment-strategy/

@Jonathan Weeks Have you looked into house hacking? You can do that and if you use an FHA note on a small multi family (4 units or less) you can get in while risking very little.

@Brian Burns

I've been thinking of doing this in my area as well, THere are a few properties that have just gotten flipped, and another one (that I know of )that's in the process. THere are 2 places (both 3 unit buildings) that I'd like to try my hand at direct marketing to. I figure that the few bucks for paper, envelopes and stamps could be worth it. 

Hey @Brandon Blase 

Look into Low down payment stuff (203k loans - for rehabs, and FHA loans for normal purchases). Since you're in a college town, either one of these will take 3.5% down and allow you to purchase a building with up to 4 units. Fill the other 3 with your friends, and save your job income for your second purchase.

Read up on BP, and good luck. 

Drive by the place, look for separate gas meters and electric boxes - you will be able to discern the utility situation from that. 

Hi Mitch -

There are plenty of things you can do. Are you willing to move out of your current place? You can get into a property up to 4 units for 3.5% down if you're using an FHA, or you can get into an SFR for 3.5% down if you use an FHA loan or start a potential BRRRR situation if you find a pretty beat up home you can do a 203k Loan on.

Thanks Nick - This has 5 of the 7 units currently occupied, so I think the plan here is to sit on the cash for a while and then in the spring, start doing some of the rehabbing work to the common areas and the landscaping. 

At this point, I do not know if there are any problem tenants (ones who wont pay rent). The old owner kept VERY poor records, and is dead to boot. 

@Nick Mertens

Can you detail some of the upgrades/repairs etc that you did to the property? I'm about to start a similar situation on a 7 unit building (hoping to close mid oct) and would like to put as little of my own cash in there as possible and keep the buildings earnings in the black. 

It was suggested to me by the brilliant @Mindy Jensen to tackle the landscaping/common areas first, then rehab units as they become empty (from tenants vacating or being removed). Is this similar to what you guys did?

Thanks. 

Kudos! Best way for forced appreciation! 

hi @Jeanine Eady

You are in a a fantastic place to start. If you'd like to invest, I'd suggest using a 203(k) or FHA Loan on a multi family property. YOu can start with as little as 3.5% down (and from what I gather about the detroit market, you could probably do pretty well with about a 6k down payment). You can live in one unit, and rent the rest. You can purchase up to a 4 unit property.

Please let me know if you have questions - i just did this in may.