Purchasing my first rental!!

[Zac Kibby]

Hi everyone. I am looking to begin my real estate journey. As with many things in life, the scariest step is the first one. My plan for my first rental is to purchase a house for my brother who will be a freshman in college this coming fall. The plan is to have my brother and 3-4 of his friends live in the house. College students typically sign for housing in the spring so that gives me around 1 full year to plan and save for this purchase.

My question I have is this: Would I be able to have my brother co-sign (since he will be living there) and avoid having to put 20% down? I am not confident I will have enough money saved to put 20% down within 12 months. Obviously 20% varies based on home price. If having him as a co-signer to be able to put say 3-5% down is not doable, are there any alternative routes I could take that would allow me to avoid having to come up with 20%?

If he is able to co-sign, is there anything specific I would need him to show for? Ex. Income, credit, etc.