All Forum Posts by: Michael Dobbins

Ken - thank you for your reply! I think I’m leaning toward Option 1, I just need to do it and peel the bandaid off.

Luke - I appreciate the tough love. I didn't even think that FHA wouldn't be as attractive of an offer. I also heard about the 34% tax increase, which will be good for surrounding areas like you said. Thank you again for your reply. Option 1 is the way to go.

Haha yeah it does sound kind of like that. 

That's good advice, thank you! 

Thank you for your reply, Katrina! That is great advice and I appreciate your input. This year is definitely the year I get my first rental investment property!

Corey -- Thank you for your reply. I appreciate your wisdom. I’ve luckily got a good job that will allow me to not have cash flow positive on my first property and be absolutely fine OR should I shoot for cash flow positive only? Tell me more about what you consider a “good deal”.

Jill -- Thank you for your reply. I’ve been leaning duplex since they’re more plentiful but I wasn’t sure if it’s worth it to wait. I work from home which is nice so I can live anywhere essentially but I was thinking for my first to make it in a good part of town I actually want to live in PLUS it’ll be an area that won’t be vacant often and values will continue to rise. 

To understand what you're saying, if I moved out, I need to make sure it's cash flow positive with BOTH units rented? Yes, that makes total sense. With me in one of them, obviously it won't be cash flow positive but I can leave for super cheap and save and save for a 20% on the next property or refinance after 12 months and roll into another FHA.

Theresa — thank you for your reply. Haha I appreciate the unicorn reference. It does seem like a long-shot to find a cash flow positive duplex for my first property. 

Charles — thank you for your reply. That does make sense that there are a lot of commuters to the city. I’m okay living 45mins or so from town, but if I’m leaving the comfort of the city, I want to make sure it’s cash flow positive. Thank you for the investor meeting info, I’ll look into that!

Hey everyone,

First off, I'm a newbie to BiggerPockets after just finishing Brandon Turner's Investment Property book so thank you for taking the time to check out my first post!

My question is - I live in the Nashville area (moved here 3 months ago for work) and I'm loving the area so I want to get a 2-4 unit property and house hack/live in one of the units. Options are very limited here in Nashville for 3+ unit properties from what I've seen on MLS (I've already got a realtor) the last 45 days or so. There are a lot of duplexes but those won't allow me to be cash flow positive (I'll be doing FHA for the first property). So, here's the big question....

Do I 

Option 1 - go with a duplex in a good part of town and let the tenant pay most of the mortgage so I can live super cheap and use the extra income to save up for the next property in a year. These are available fairly often so it would be easy to get into one now.

Option 2 - look 45-60min out of town to find 3-4 unit properties that may not rent as easily due to the location but would be cash flow positive 

Option 3 - wait and just keep looking in Nashville? I'm renting a house now and my lease isn't up until Dec so I have time. The clause to get out of my lease is a month's rent plus ad fees and 30 days' notice so no problem there. This comes down to, how important is getting started vs finding the elusive "perfect first property"?