Buying a 2 family in NYC with a low down payment

[Luis Rodriguez]

So my wife & I were looking to move to Long Island because we thought anything in NYC where we wanted to live was too expensive for us. We ended up finding a 2 family property where the numbers work. We have great credit,good income, no debt, but a low down payment. I know an FHA loan is a great loan to get you in the door, but the bank told us there would be an extra $10K to use the FHA loan and then refinancing down the road would cost another $10K. The bank also told us we need 10% down for a conventional loan for a 2 family. The most we can do is 5%.

Is it true you have to put 10% down on a conventional loan for a 2 family property ?

Any advice to avoid an FHA loan ?

[Eric A.]

Pretty sure 10% down is the best you're going to do outside of FHA. Trust me I've been looking for a while. You shouldn't be afraid to do an FHA though. Yes the fees are expensive but most of them can be rolled into the loan and besides that's the cost you pay for putting so little down. HTH.