Single family home or owner occupied multifamily for first home

[Russell McCluskey]

Hey Everyone,

I am a new bigger pockets PRO member and this is my first post. I am currently not a homeowner, nor have I ever been. I have been learning and researching about real estate investing for the last 2-3 years and have identified that I would like to utilize owner occupied multifamily units as my entry way into real estate investing. However, I have run into a problem that has me hung up and I am looking for other viewpoints to help me organize myself.

I only have $20K currently available for any down payment on a property, with a steady and safe job that pays decently well. While this is small, it is big for me as I have aggressively been saving for this and have accumulated this in the last 10 months. Which Is great. The problem that I am running into is that with $20k down in my market (SLC, Utah) my available properties are slim and I often find that after analyzing properties that I will not be in positive cash flow as owner occupied or even with the anticipated cash flow after moving out with each unit fully rented with anticipated rent raises. The obvious answer is to not invest in those properties and look for better deals.  Which is where my confusion rises from and I am unsure what approach I should take.  

With the above mentioned I am wondering if it would be best for me to buy a single family home to live in and rehab cosmetic items within the first year and then sell it within 1-2 years and use the profits for a down payment on an owner occupied property. Or is it advisable to stick to the original plan and continue to save up money and analyze owner occupied units until the numbers match up? I am having a hard time estimating which approach is best and/or which approach would get to me my goal of having an owner occupied property quicker?

My goals:

Reach a minimum of $5000 per month cash flow within the next 5 years.

Reach a minimum of $10000 per month cash flow within the next 10 years.

[Jackson Pontsler]

Welcome Russel to BP,

First of all ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS be looking at deals it will teach you when something is good and when you find something that is good get it under contract and then start looking for money.  If you can't find it but you know it is a good deal you can wholesale it to another investor like me.

As for you rental concerns: Yes Utah is a hot market and more on the expensive side to get started especially where a duplex can be 400k+. My advice would depend if you are looking for deals on the MLS or off the MLS.

If you are looking on the MLS then you should buy a single family house, fix it up, and then sell it a few years later for profit. (this is the longest and probably the safest route, also you're probably not able to find a good house on the MLS right now but miracles do happen)

If you are looking off the MLS (and there's a chance you can get it on the MLS) look for owner financing where they carry the loan and you pay them. This may reduce the overall down payment needed for the property but still make some logical sense as a rental.

Regardless of whether you buy a property now or not always always always be looking and when you find a good deal if you can't personally buy it you can still wholesale it to other investors for a small profit.

Let me know if you have any other questions I'm always avaliable to help other investors out.