New member from Grand Rapids, MI

[Thi Dalley]

Hi! My name is Thi (pronounced Tee) Dalley from Grand Rapids, MI. Since we've been married last June, my husband and I have dreamed about getting into REI. We stumbled upon bigger pockets through a podcast about owner occupied duplexes while on a trip to Traverse City this past summer whilst conversing about our first home purchase. Since then we have been taking the steps towards buying our first FHA owner occupied duplex. We have connected with an investment friendly real estate agent, went to the bank to see what we need to qualify, and have been set up for MLS listings for multifamilies in the area. Our next tangible goal is to purchase a duplex or four plex by the end of 2016. A few questions (or should these go in a different forum?)

- I've been a bit overwhelmed with analyzing deals because it seems the ones on MLS wouldn't cash flow very well unless they were in a very bad part of town which I wouldn't feel comfortable living in. Should we just drive for bucks and bank on low ball offers if we went with the MLS?

- if there are Grand Rapidians reading this, do you know what areas of town (we are more interested in the suburbs or GR as opposed to the heart of downtown) are best to have buy and holds in? 

Anyway, we are very excited to learn and have been absorbing as much as we can from the resources bp provides! Thanks for the well spring of knowledge! I never thought I would be so excited about real estate because the whole industry seemed too daunting and unrecheable, but since listening to the podcasts and reading the blogs, I've been very excited to get in the game (though still nervous as this is our first!)