Advice on financing my first multi-family!

[Simon Cox]

Hey BP friends,

I'm looking at buying my first property and was hoping to gain some insight on the best way to finance.

here are the details (I'm trying to be very conservative with the #'s):

4-plex @ 100% occupancy combined rent of 2900

pp: $165000

Vacancy: 8%

Maintenance: 10%

Management: 10%

Taxes: $274

Insurance: 5%

CapEx: 10%

Rehab: 10k. It doesn't need any immediate work but I want to have this budget for cushion or improvements.

I tried to be generous with those numbers to absorb the small things I have not yet found out from the current owner (landscaping, trash, sewage etc.) I plan to be sure of these expenses before signing anything!

If I put down 30% on a 30 yr conventional loan, my cash flow is around 750 and I'm out of pocket about 67k (including the 10k for potential rehab.)

The main question im asking is if there is a creative way I could decrease the out of pocket?

I could also pay all cash and refinance later but am a little unclear about the benefits of doing that (if any). I would be ok to tie that money up for up to a year. 

Any thoughts, questions or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks everyone!

[Brent Coombs]

@Simon Cox, logically, it's six of one, half a dozen of the other. Not sure if it works that way in practice. One of the best ways of ensuring future refi success is to Offer (substantially) less than true market in the first place, which means that subsequent appraisals will allow a full cash-out when refinancing. Another thing that will help is not splurging your cash-flow income on holidays and cars, but re-investing in your next bargain (but I sense that I am preaching to the choir?)...