Newbie Vet looking to invest in Tacoma / Lakewood, WA

[April M. Kimble]

Hello Everyone!

Decided to revamp my subject line- the typo in the first one made me a bit crazy. 

Thanks to my big brother @Allen Kimble, I am excited and happy to be posting for the first time after months of reading through posts and various different books. I think it is absolutely amazing the number of people on this site willing to help others for the sake of community and good will- it’s kind of priceless in today’s society... I hope to be able to do the same in the near future.

I am in need of referrals of realtors who are well versed in VA & FHA loans, and investment strategies. I am active duty and will be moving to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA from Honolulu, HI in about 3 months. I am embarking on my final five years to retirement and looking to purchase a few properties.  I am mostly looking at Tacoma but open to other areas.

I like the concept of house hacking, as I do not have constrains (i.e. kids in school) to keep me from moving every 12 months to fulfill any living on property requirements in a condo or 2-4 unit home. However, thinking realistically with my upcoming new job and finishing school, I probably will not have time, nor the energy for sweat equity, so I am thinking I should buy and hold to build equity, as opposed to focusing on building cash flow.

I am aware there may be things I have not considered - so I am humbly asking the question --- What would you do if you had access to VA, FHA and conventional loans, approx 20-30K capital, good credit and low DTI?

Thanks in advance for y’alls time!

April :-)