Old member but first post!

[Ben Ng]

Hi everyone, My name is Ben and i've been with Biggerpockets for more than a year. I have learned a lot in biggerpockets by listening to podcasts and use the search button. I bought a duplex in Dallas Texas in 2017 and another one recently in 2018. As always,  I made a lot of mistakes and regret a few things here and there, but in the end i was able to learn a lot. I am looking forward to learn more from our community and may be one day... have enough knowledge to give back  as well.

[Ben Ng]

@Jill DeWit Thank you :)

@Account Closed Thank you :) I relocated to Texas from California. i was not part of those rich folks already owned a house in California, i was merely 26 when i made the move. When i came to Dallas, i didnt know much about the local RE nor did i know anyone to ask and did not look for anyone to ask (first mistake) you should know your market by heart by researching or asking someone with experience. When i was looking for my first property. I didn't even know there is something called "Duplex, Triplex or fourplex". i happened to find one weird looking house and was telling my wife " these people are selling their two townhouse on the same lot". Also, i didnt have a realtor and was looking around myself. i contacted a realtor after i decided to buy the duplex. The duplex was not pretty. Wife did not like it. It took sometimes to convince her and made a promise that i will buy an actual "house" in the next 3 years or so. (not gonna happen since we just bought another duplex in Jan 2018 lol). My thought at the time was that i can just buy this duplex and live there temporarily until i know the Dallas market well. When i find something that i like later, i can buy and rent out the duplex completely. Beautiful thought isnt it? here comes the second mistake. I had a one year lease of contract with an apartment here in Dallas. i was paying around $800 a month minus some shared water bills, pest controls..etc. I still had 10 months in contract and was thinking that i can rent out the full duplex while staying in my apartment. Well, this did not work out since i was getting a primary residence home loan. I found this out 1 day before closing and had to endure both Rent and Mortgage. (i did check with the apartment and they said either pay the full 1 year lease and get out or stay till contract is over... i was mad but had no choice). however, luck was on my side since i also got another job with an increase in salary. Second duplex was almost a routine since i already familiar with the process. you might ask how did i get enough money for a down payment and finance my second purchase. I am a Software Engineer and have been working since i graduated college at 22. i save all of my money and only have 1 debt for a car loan. So even after the first purchase, i still had some money left. If you are looking to buy your first or second property, i would suggest to buy within your mean. You should not go with emotion and buy something that you might not able to support it and always have a backup plan. Since i am not experience in RE like some people can buy without money down or have a syndication, my backup plan was that even if all of the tenants leave, i can still support the 2 mortgages. However, that backup plan of mine does not work well with my current "Want". Now, I want to buy a third property, should i buy or should i lick my wound and pay off one of my mortgages first? if i buy then where? Duplex or SFH? i still haven't figure this out yet.