First Steps Of Action

[Charles Giovanniello]

Hey all,

I’ve been educating myself in the realm of real estate for about a month now. I know it’s not very long, but I decided to go to the bank today just to see if I qualify for a loan of $120,000 so I can invest in a rental property in Bethlehem PA. I’d put 20% down (~$30,000 if I do go for the max amount) and the interest rate would be 4.875%. We calculated the expenses and it came out to be $1,151 per month (Not including utilities). We chose the occupancy type as a “second home” to keep the interest down because apparently if I chose “investment” the interest would be higher. According to Rentometer a $1500/month rent is reasonable in that area so a $349/month cash flow would be possible. I did get pre-approved for the loan so I believe I can start shopping around the area soon.

My question to the community is basically, am I doing this right? I’m new to this and I like to learn by taking action as well as reading. But I really want to make sure that this is not a backwards approach. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!