First Invesetment Deal

[Jairmiya St. Hilaire]

Hi Everybody,

Looking to get some advice on investing in my first real estate deal. I've read a ton of books on residential and commercial real estate investing and believe that commercial is more of the path I want to take. Here's the deal though, given my lack of experience and capital, I'm not sure where to begin as far as financing goes. Should I contact a private lender? Or should I use my VA home loan and stay at 4 units and below for my first investment while I live in one unit for a year and have my tenants pay off my mortgage? I eventually want to move up into the 10-20 unit apartment complex range averaging 5-10k a month from my investments. So I guess my real question is, how would I present my case to a bank or private lender? What do they need or want to see financially that's going to make them say yes when I ask for a loan? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Jairmiya