Single Family or Multi-Unit?? (Please Advise)

[Tim V.]

Hello Friends!

I'm extremely excited to begin my journey in Real Estate Investing. I'm 26 years old; I have a wife, and a 4-year-old daughter. I recently was honorably discharged from the military and would like to take advantage of the VA Loan. I purchased my first property a little over two years ago (all cash deal) it's a commercial building--A storefront and an apartment dwelling in the rear. I invested a little over 10k in the property and currently have it on a land contract for a total of 25k. I've been receiving 581.00 for the past 16 months with an $8500 down payment. My tenant has about a year left of remaining payments. The $500 goes towards his balance while the 81.00 is for taxes. I feel like I shouldn't have sold the building, however it's in a neighborhood that seldom has good tenants. So I thought this was a win win situation.

Anyways, I'm just now finishing my RE Sales Licensing requirements for my state and I'd like to start shopping around. My wife is a young professional who currently makes close to 50k a year and I've been involved in many entrepreneurial endeavors. But I still don't have a steady secure income. We have close to 10 k in savings and would like to purchase our first home together. Currently we are living in a growing suburb in our community where we're paying close to $800 in rent. My credit rating is tier 1 and The VA eligibility requirements allows you to use your wife's income if it's the only income in the household. We think we should be ready by Spring to buy.

My wife is ready to purchase a single family home and I'm thinking we should consider a multi unit instead. I really don't want to worry about too much rehab, being I don’t have a trusted team in place and my last experience didn't go so smoothly. I feel like if we purchase a single-family home in one of the upper suburbs in town we will be pretty much stuck for awhile. Especially, not knowing what type of financial situation I will be in.

Any advise on what my next move should be will be greatly appreciated.

Tim