Need help on getting started

[Cody Cramer]

my credit score is 760 right now and I currently have $3500 saved up for a down payment, if I was going for a condo to start as my first rental property, assuming it was somewhere around $150,000, would I be able to do it with such a small down payment? And if so would it be worth the risk to start with such a small down payment or should I save up more before jumping in? Thanks!

[Jon Reed]

If you are going to live in the unit then you can do the 3% down strategy.. however if this an actual investment property, and you just want to do traditional financing, then you will need ~20% down. 

Either way... if you only have $3,500 saved up then I would say hold off. Not to have a bigger down payment but to have a cash safety fund. Also, lenders usually want to see that you have 3-6 months of mortgage payments in cash reserves after purchase before they will approve you for the loan.