New to BP

[Ryan Conor]

Hello BP Members,

I am 27 and I am looking into becoming an investor in Fairfield County and New Haven County in Connecticut. I have a potential partner or two that would like to join me with investing in real estate. I have been debating on starting with a live-in flip with a 203K FHA loan or to start out with the BRRR (Buy Rehab Rent Refinance) strategy also with a 203K FHA loan. So I have a couple of questions/looking for advice.

So I was wondering what the common strategy was in Fairfield and New Haven County. I do like the live-in flip idea because theoretical lump sum at the end of the project while minimizing the risk by living in it. But my long term goal is to have another source of income through rentals. But I know that the property needs to be your primary residence for at least a year through a FHA loan but we don't have enough saved up for a down payment yet to use a conventional loan when houses are $200,000 and up in Fairfield County.

Just to give you some personal background... My father is an architect so I would have access to any and all drawings needed for any upgrades/new houses. I am a very motivated individual, I currently have a full time job (40 hours a week) as an engineer that I live on and I also have a part time (20-35 hours a week) that I got in order to save for a house/investment quicker. I have a credit score of about 800 and have about $25k saved up to start investing. I am not looking for a quick way to get rich, I am looking for a second 401K and another source of income because I have noticed that real estate investing does not have a financial ceiling that you can hit unlike working for someone else does. So I am looking for some advice on what I need to get started and what I should have done in order to jump in on my first deal.

[Jason Arcuri]

first, welcome to the community.   Great first step your taking.  I'd suggest doing the live in flip.  However, a 203k really won't allow that because a 203k needs contractors to do the work.  You need something that is livable, just ugly.  The reason I suggest going this route, is because you can still get an fha mortgage on a multi family after you have sold your flip.  I started with a multi family and it gets very hard to get the cash back together to start another project.  If you're able to do a few flips then start picking up multi families, it is much easier.