First home- single, 2, 3, 4 family?

Question

Hello everybody, I am so glad to have found this site, it is so helpful and informative.  My name is Allana and I am from Brooklyn, New York.  I spent a great portion of my life in school and as such lost out on a lot of financial/investment opportunities since I was in school or in low paying jobs in order to gain experience.  Now I am finally at a point where I have the resources to purchase a home but am wondering given everyone's experiences, investing in real estate, what would you advise to a first time home buyer, a single family, 2, 3  or 4.

While I would love to have an entire home to myself as I see it as my sanctuary after a challenging work day I realize the financial advantage to having people assist you with your mortgage although being a landlord comes with certain headaches.  Any suggestions as to what I should purchase as my very first home particularly if I wish to later become a real estate investor?

Thanks

Ciprian L. · Answer

2-4 it's better, if you can afford it. When you have enough of them to pay the mortgage for a single family you can buy it and enjoy your sanctuary :)

Julie Marquez · Answer

@Allana Alex Welcome to Bigger Pockets, this is a great community to learn and grow in real estate. I say buy a 4 plex, and it will sooner cash flow enough so that you can buy your single family. You will learn the most with it, and it will be such a benefit that you got 4 units with one own-occupied loan. It might take some time to find a 4-plex deal, but I think it's a great way to start and something you'll be glad you have under you belt when you move on to your next home.

Oleg Shalumov · Answer

Welcome to the BP site @Allana Alex

there are plenty of educational information here: Videos, Podcasts, and numerous guides.

From financial prospective it is better to buy a 4 Family house - this way you would live in it for Free while your tenants are paying your mortgage (you may even earn some extra income). Such of renting/owning is called house hacking - you can search for it on the blog for more details and information. On the other hand 4 family Houses are more expensive than Single Family (specially in Brooklyn). So if you have down-payment I would go with 4 Family.

I used to own a 2 Family in Brooklyn and was renting one of the apartment - it was covering 3/4 of my mortgage.

Best of luck!