First time investor - Searching for a great lender

[Matthew Sutton]

Hi BP folks,

I will be as brief as I can be and expand in subsequent comments as necessary. I am 25 years old, still living at home (with parents), college graduate (wonderful student loans), and looking to invest in my first multifamily property within 6 months; my focus is buy and hold investing. Over the past few months, I have been reading, studying, and overall educating myself as you can imagine a serious first time investor would do.

I have been sending numerous emails and a few phone calls to various financial institutions looking to see what I may be pre-approved for. Currently, I am at the stage of taking action and, as such, am building a team to support one another, as well as my goals, and to transition out of "aspiring investor".

My main concern at the moment, is my debt to income ratio as it is unfavorable due to my student loans. As I stated, I have begun reaching out locally, but thought that posting on BP is the next logical/smart step.

I am in the Erie, PA area and I am focused on investing locally. If you are reading this and have some advice or contacts that you believe may be able to assist me, given my situation, then I invite you to share not only with myself on this thread, but any others that may be reading this with the same concerns as myself.

Best,

Matt Sutton

[Sara Eastler]

Hi Matthew,

I'm a novice RE investor with experience as a passive investor and having flipped one house. I've learned that if you are purchasing a MF deal that contains 5+ units, the lenders care much more about the cash flow of the property than they do about the credit and background of the purchaser. Having said that, the RE investors I know who purchased their first MF units, often had to bring in an experienced MF investor as a partner on their first deal. I also know two couples (with established credit histories) who purchased 8-units as their very first deal and had no trouble securing lending from the bank.

What I've learned is to keep an open mind, never believe all doors are closed to you and if someone turns you down ask, "What would you have to see to say yes?" so you know exactly what to work on and where to put your energy. You could also ask, "Would you say yes if my dad cosigned?" "Would say yes if I partnered with a successful RE investor?" etc.

Good luck moving forward!

Sara