Beginner Buy and Hold Investor in Minneapolis St Paul, MN Area

[Heath O.]

Hello!

Long time member and researcher, first time posting!

I'm originally from a small 1k population town in Minnesota. My dad tried his hand in the flip and hold market, but hit a ceiling due to the small area.

I'm hoping to try buy and holds here in the metro where there is much more room to grow. I have no experience being the head honcho/owner in this industry, but have plenty of experience in the day to day operations of keeping up rentals, and have been researching this plan for the past several years. I finally have enough saved up for a down payment on my first rental, so i figured it was time to engage with the community which has already taught me so much!

[Tim Swierczek]

@Heath O. I agree with your assessment of the UofMN area.  I would add that you have massive competition from LL's with deep pockets.  The small guys are multi-millionaires with 20+ properties and that does not include Doran who I believe is a billionaire.  It's shark-infested waters, to say the least.  You can make better money in other areas.

On the loan front, I recommend you start with a conventional 5% down loan first. This will allow you to do an FHA loan for your second house hack and have a total of 8.5% down. If you do the FHA loan first then you have 18.5% down because the 5% down conventional is only available if you do not own another property when you get the loan. This saves you 10% on your first 2 purchases.

Wanna meet for coffee?  I'll send you an invite & PM

~Tim