First Time Multi-Family Buyer Help

[Sangam Baligar]

Hello BPs,

I need your suggestion/guidelines on buying a 2/3/4 plex multi-family house for the first time.

My budget is around $400k and looking forward to holding for 4-5 years. 

A couple of questions:

1. Do you recommend buying under LLC? or personal?

2.  Which one is better: FHA or a traditional loan? I'm planning to go with small community lenders and after some time do a HELOC as well.

3. Any recommendation on buying a multi-family in Philadelphia, PA area? 

I would really appreciate your help.

Thank you,

-Sangam

[Jason D.]

@Sangam Baligar welcome! 1) Its personal preference.... some people use LLCs, some don't. 2) If you plan on living there and keeping the property in your name, and it still cash flows with a low down payment, FHA is a good way to get in. If you dont plan to live there, or own it in an LLC, conventional is the only way to go, FHA wont touch it. 3) Philly is very neighborhood specific, so make sure you know your streets and blocks, because they can go from "A" to "D" within a few blocks.