First Property, Advice Needed

[Justin Johnson]

Hello,

It has been a few months since I've been on the BP forums.  I have spent that time saving everything that I could, I met and exceeded my savings goal by 2 months!  Now, I am just starting to physically look at properties with my realtor.  He has flipping and rental property experience so that was a huge plus to me.  I asked him to set me up with automatic email notifications about new multifamily properties in my area in a decent price range.  I have told him that I am taking my time, still learning, studying, asking lots of questions, and just getting my feet wet.

I am coming to the forums to ask about the process as I am completely new to the entire process of buying a property. I don't know when I should start talking to a bank/lender, important questions to ask while touring a property, if it's better to put a larger down payment on a property or a lower one, traditional or FHA, etc. I know that "it depends" on a lot of things and that there's no "one way" that works every time, I am just wanting to get some feedback and guidance on how to proceed and what has worked for others. I have been reading every book that I can get my hands on (without sacrificing my savings goals/plans) to learn as much as I can, currently reading the book "How to Invest in Real Estate" for the second time taking notes like a madman.

Any advice/guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks,

JJ

[Caleb Croteau]

This is great advice Joseph.. What type of lenders are we talking about here?