Jumping into Million dollar multi-family

[John Devereaux]

Greetings BP!

I have recently posted about being on the fence of selling our single family home in San Diego area in the next year when I receive new orders from the military. I will be submitting paperwork to head back east to my roots in New England (Hopefully Mass or RI area). My wife and I have decided that we are more than likely going to sell our house upon the 2 year mark to avoid capital gains tax and walk away with about 150-200k (depending on where the market swings in the next few months). I would really like to purchase a turn-key multi-family back east but they are rather expensive. The ones that I have my eye on are in the Newport, RI area considering they rent well to college students in the off-season and rent at a premium for the summer months. However, we'd be looking at spending around 1-1.5 million on our first multi-family investment. I would be looking to house hack our first multi-family which would only require 3.5% down or even no money down with VA loan. However, there is a chance that I do not end up in that area but would still like to purchase a property there which would require the 20% down and taking up that entire 200k. If I do not get stationed there and unable to house hack, would you recommend looking at cheaper multi-families that could use fixing up in a cheaper town/city or state or recommend continuing with my approach if the numbers work out? All suggestions and tips are appreciated!