A great book or source for duplex, triplex, and fourplex investing?

[David Thomas]

I am a young investor (in my 20's). I do not currently have my license but have completed classes and am awaiting exam and subsequent licensing. I am currently reading Tom Hopkins's Mastering the Art of Selling Real Estate. I actually find this to be a very nice read and down-to-earth. It's a good pick-me-up when I feel dumb relative to agents in my office who have conducted multiple transactions and have a good rapport and manner on the phone and with their clients. Seeing as I do not have clients yet, I am trying to attain as much information as possible until I am licensed.

Aside from the licensing, I am very interested in multifamily home investing. I have almost $7500 saved up in 4 months (before taxes, working on self-employed 1099 basis). While that would be a solid start if I was investing in other parts of the country, I live in Silicon Valley/Bay Area and the prices of any property are fairly steep so I am trying to learn techniques on investing with large financing/small upfront expenditures.

If anyone knows of some solid techniques or advice, or even a great book/read/article on MFH investing ... I would love to know. I love BiggerPockets forums and read constantly, and highly respect the wealth of knowledge amount the agents/investors/etc here.

Thank you for your time!

[Chris Adams]

Welcome to BP

BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing

[David Thomas]

Thank You for your reply Chris. Looking forward to reading it. Good luck to you sir!

[Michael Seeker]

I'm not sure what's available in your area, but I think one of the best ways to get into multifamily investing is with an owner-occupied 4-plex. You should be able to get an FHA or conventional loan with around 5% down. Depending on prices in your area, you might need quite a bit more than what you've got. But you're off to a good start. Keep saving and keep an eye out for great deals until something works.

[Michael Seeker]

A good book to read is "Investing in Duplexes, Triplexes & Quads" by Larry Loftis

[Brie Schmidt]

I second @Michael Seeker - That is how we started. I also suggest

HOLD: How to Find, Buy, and Rent Houses for Wealth

[David Thomas]

Thank You Michael,

I appreciate your input about the owner-occupied fourplex. That has been one of my bigger initial goals is to go that route with a fourplex and have owner-occupied to obtain a fair rate. Thank you for your book suggestion as well!

Brianna,

Thanks so much for your book referral. I started looking around for multi-family residences today and didn't see any on the selling block. Now, I wouldn't expect deals to be available all the time, however, do these type of properties usually only surface every now and then and then get taken up very quickly. I'm wondering how I would be able to jump on something myself, since I don't consider myself an expert investor at all as of yet.

Thank you both! :) Have a wonderful holiday.

[David Krulac]

@David Thomas

Great Name!

I'd recommend BUY & HOLD by David Schumacher (there's that name again)

and HOW I TURNED $1,000 INTO 5 MILLION by William Nickerson

and of course my own

[Account Closed]

The best and most detailed book on multifamily investing in my opinion is Ken McElroy's "The ABC's of Real Estate Investing" and "The Advanced Guide to Real Estate Investing". It breaks down the actual process and formulas and is very minimal on the "motivational speeches" that so many of these books seem to fill their pages with.

[Joakim Esaiasson]

hi,

i got HOW I TURNED $1,000 INTO 5 MILLION by William Nickerson from amazon, its a good book even if it was writen 1950... fun to read all the old prices etc, people where paying 45$ in rent etc..

[Brie Schmidt]

Originally posted by @David Thomas:

Brianna,

Thanks so much for your book referral. I started looking around for multi-family residences today and didn't see any on the selling block. Now, I wouldn't expect deals to be available all the time, however, do these type of properties usually only surface every now and then and then get taken up very quickly. I'm wondering how I would be able to jump on something myself, since I don't consider myself an expert investor at all as of yet.

Thank you both! :) Have a wonderful holiday.

David- First you need to understand how you will fund these deals. Are you going to live in one unit and rent out the others? If so you have do FHA with 5% down. Are you buying it strictly as an investment? If so you will need 20 - 25% down. As a beginner it is very hard to get financing. They want 2 years of landlord experience on your tax returns to use the rental income to qualify. Secondly, you mentioned you are 1099 - you will also need 2 years of 1099 income to use that to qualify. I suggest meeting with a lender first and running the numbers / getting pre approved. If traditional financing is not a route you are going you need to network with private investors and see what the max amount would be. Once you know what you can spend, then you can start looking for deals.

Every market is different so what I look for in Chicago may be different than what you look for. Others here use the 50% rule http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/06/14/50-percent-rule/

I started with 15k and bought a 3 unit with a FHA loan and 3.5% down. After a year and a half we were able to get financing on a 2nd property (the bent the 2 year rule because we had extra cash reserves)

[Brandon Turner]

Hey @David Thomas - Just in case you haven't seen this - be sure to check out BiggerPockets Presents : The Best Real Estate Books Ever

Also - here are some posts you might like on that topic:

How to Buy a Small Multifamily Property

How to Make a Million Dollars from Real Estate

How to Start Investing In Real Estate at a Young Age

How to “Hack” Your Housing and Get Paid to Live for Free

That should give you some good reading for a while!

[Paul Timmins]

@David Thomas

Welcome.

Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere

Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice. And you get the benefit of having 40 past ones to catch up on.

Locate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings great place to meet people gather resources and info. Here wholesalers will present deals and rehabbers can do the work.

Two Great reads, I bought both J. Scott The Book on Flipping Houses,The Book on Estimating ReHab Costshttp://www.biggerpockets.com/flippingbook

Consider checking out HUD homes for small multi's owner occupied gets first crack.

You might consider Niche or Specialized Housing like student housing works well in your area. Rents can be 2-4 times more. Remember you don't have to own a property to control it.

Brandon did a great job with The Real Estate Agent’s Ultimate Guide to Working with Investors http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/08/24/real-estate-agents-working-with-investors/

Good Luck

Paul

[Joakim Esaiasson]

Hi guys,

I just realise that Willam Nick... have writen 3 diffrent books.

What's the diffrence between them?

Should i read all three of them?

Thanks

Joakim

[David Krulac]

@Joakim Esaiasson

He actually wrote more than 3 books on real estate. But the $1million, $3million and $5million versions of his book are updates about 10 years apart.

Read the $5million version its the latest, check out the library or used book sources.

[Al Williamson]

Wow there are too many resources to name. Just find a place that interests you, gather the details, and your BP family will help you examine it. A paper study is a great way to test your know how and generate useful questions.

Dive in and set the books down for a minute.

[David Thomas]

Can't thank you all enough!! I am surprised, but I know I shouldn't be with the amount of support from the BP group. Making me glad I chose to move in the direction of real estate about 4 months ago. Some great people, and very positive vibes.

I have seen all the book recommendations, and now think I will have some on my list to keep me occupied, and am trying to take steps towards actually making moves soon rather than reading about them. :)

Thanks guys!

[Kris Benson]

David,

I am reading Buy It, Rent It, Profit! by Bryan M. Chavis.

I have been very impressed with the number of examples and checklist templates included in the text. Very detailed and process oriented. I know for me it has been extremely helpful in helping me develop my systems for market analysis and due diligence on a property!

Good Luck!

Kris