Townhome rental or multi?

[Brianna Buscemi]

Hi guys. I’m a newbie, I’ve always dreamt of buying multi-family units & now I’m finally at a place where I have proof of income and make decent money. 
upon further research, here in Florida it’s difficult to find any without major rehab work. That being said, I’ve found a townhome, new construction, with the interest rate incentives as low as 3.99 & 4.99 it a a great area. I plan on living there for a year and renting out after. I know it could rent and essentially pay for itself. But I guess my question is, is it worth letting go of the duplex dream for now and rent out single family unit? Or wait and scan the market for a multi family I can afford? TIA. 

[Jasmine Williams]

Hi Brianna! I too am here in Florida and you should absolutely go the multifamily route. I have been working in the real estate industry since 2010 and have specialized in working with investors here in Florida for a number of years...you are absolutely right, it is typically VERY difficult to find decent small multifamily properties here. This is the exact reason why I switched to the Build 2 Rent model, and most of my investors are following. I'm actually a District Manager with Build 2 Rent here in Florida and we have off-market multifamily properties (both occupied and vacant) that you can purchase with a primary residence loan and interest rates in the low 4's. I'm happy to share that inventory with you! Just feel free to shoot me a message and I'll send you the link. I would personally recommend going the quadplex route, if you can. That way, you could live in one, purchase with little down since you can use a primary residence loan with a low down payment, and collect rental income on the other 3 units. If that's too uncomfortable for you, you can still always go the duplex route! (We have those too.) I hope this helps! Shoot me a message if I can help with anything else. Congratulations on starting your journey! (Btw, we have a Quadplex Investing Webinar coming up soon. If you'd like me to share the link with you, let me know!)