Looking to initiate my first deal

[Thomas Hopkins]

Hey guys I am a 23 year old recent graduate from San Diego state. I live in San Diego and I have a good job as an engineer. I really want to make my first deal on a buy and hold rental. I have done research, looked online at houses for sale and ran the numbers I just need advice on how to actually initiate an my first deal and how to fund it. I make good money and have great credit. The only problem is I have about ten thousand in student debt I am working on paying before I can start saving for a down payment. How can I get started sooner than later and not have to wait until my debts paid and I save enough for a down payment. I've heard of low/ no money down loans and things like that but is that smart and how to do that. I am not military. Any advice helps. Thanks for reading Tommy

[Lee Ripma]

@Thomas Hopkins You can also get that student loan on a very low interest rate and extended term (5% and 5 years) and start saving money for a down payment, don't start looking at anything without 20k liquid. If you want to be getting into a multi-family deal in SD you're looking at a minimum down payment of 3.5 for FHA. Also look up debt to income ratio and how lenders calculate this to approve you for a mortgage. You can calculate what you'll qualify for without talking to a lender by learning their rules. Houses in SD are expensive and renting isn't so you'll see people on BP a lot trying to figure out how to cash flow in San Diego. One thing you could do here would be to do a modified house hack and buy a house with 4 bedrooms by state and rent out three of them at 700-800 each, then rent out all 4 and move to your next house. But your purchase price is going to be high and there will be capital required for upkeep. I was in a similar boat as you for years thinking that having good credit and a good job in SD would mean that I could buy a house. I realized that real estate is capital intensive even if you do low down payment options so I'm buying a vacation rental in the mountains as my first investment and will continue to rent in SD. Best of luck!