New Member from Portland, OR

[Justin Lovern]

Hello,

I plan to be a first time home buyer in about 9-10 months when my rental lease terminates. I'd like to buy a duplex with my wife and rent out one side in the southwest Portland or Beaverton area.

Thanks and best!

Justin

[Elizabeth Colegrove]

Welcome to Bigger Pockets!

We are buy and hold investors. We got started when I graduated from graduate school with a personal property that we fixed up and rented it out when my husband was transferred. It was an amazing way to get our foot in the door. If you can, I would look into a conventional 5% loan over FHA. While it is 1.5% more, there is no funding fee and the pmi falls off when you get to 78% of loan to value. Our goal is for early retirement in 15 years :)

You will love the diverse community and all the resources. So a great place is to look around the blogs, forums and listen to the podcasts for different niches. If you see a post you enjoy check out the persons signature. Many of us including myself talk about our strategies, styles, niches and business model on our website. So definitely check that out as it is an amazing additional resource. For example, my blog is about while working full time, buy and hold investing, 0% Down Rentals, Personal Properties turned rentals, Long distancing investing, self-managing 3,000+ miles away. Definitely list your blog or website in your signature, if you have one. Its a great additional networking source.

Look forward to seeing and connecting with you around!