FHA Financing for First 3 Family Property

[Jennifer Cheu]

Hi Bigger Pockets Community,

I am brand new to real estate, and am in the process of buying my first, 3 family property in the Providence, RI area. I am a mechanical engineer, employed full time, with excellent credit score, so I'm thinking a low down payment FHA loan is a good option.

I started to work with lending tree, prime lending, bank of America, homestar, and someone my buying agent recommended.  My home inspection was completed over the weekend, and I'm getting close to needing to secure financing. 

What is the best approach to getting financing? Is FHA the best option? Is there a way I can forgo paying the PMI? Any recommendations on a particular person to work with, keep shopping around, or just stick with the guy my buying agent recommended?

Thanks!

Jen

[Michael Cohen]

@Jennifer Cheu - I would strongly recommend you stay away from Lending Tree, Quicken, or any online lender. They typically do a very poor job properly structuring the loans, calculating income, etc.

Without a thorough review of your income, assets, debt-to-income, etc., we (lenders here on BP) wouldn't be able to recommend one loan over another. However FHA is the only loan that allows a down payment of 3.5% on a 3-unit property. There is no way to forego PMI unless you put 20% down. On an FHA loan, PMI is for the life of the loan, so when you hit 20% equity, you may want to refinance into a conventional loan.