First Investment Property

[Reuben Stone]

So far I have not gotten involved in BP as much as I would like too. My property management company is in the middle of a major program change and tax season in coming up! But I am on here today to ask a question that I have never really gotten a good answer too. So here it goes...

I want to know what  is more advantageous for my first investment. Option 1: Invest in a foreclosed property for under 50K fix it up and then leverage that property to buy my next one. Option 2: Invest in a 500K property right out of the gate? Option 3: Somewhere in the middle of option 1 and option 2. 

I am 23 years old, never owned property, and own my own property management company. I have the ability to invest in the 50K properties right now and I have the resources and connections to allow me to invest in the 500K property as well. I want to make sure that my first investment will not effect the rate I can grow my portfolio. I want to own many properties and I am having a hard time determining where to start. I understand that the foreclosed option would allow me to use the equity to purchase my next investment, but do not know how I could leverage a 500K property to make my next investment purchase. I dont want to invest in anything under 4 units and all the foreclosed properties in my area are less than 4. The rental rates in my area just dont produce enough cash flow to justify a duplex or a triplex investment. 4 units is where you start seeing some return.

Any suggestions or advice? Any feed back will be greatly appreciated! Basically I just want some advice on where to begin and what option would allow me to grow my portfolio at a healthy rate.