Chris from San Francisco, CA

[Chris Yung]

Hi everyone, I'm excited to finally be a part of the community! I'm a 26-year-old living in San Francisco and working as a software engineer. A couple months ago, I got hooked on the idea of real estate investing and have spent hours reading books and listening to the BP podcast. Now, I'm finally ready to take the first step.

I've had my money just sitting in a savings account doing nothing the past few years and it's time to put it to work. I'm planning to buy and hold an out-of-state property within the next couple months (thanks to David Greene's awesome book). Currently, I'm looking for properties in Fort Worth and Oklahoma City, but I'd love some suggestions and advice.

I'm looking to do a 20% down payment on a 30-year fixed-rated conventional mortgage to buy a SFR and rent it out. I have $60,000 saved up, so I'm thinking of getting a house around $150,000 to $200,000 to have reserves leftover for when things go wrong. I'm hopeful that the first property will go well, but I completely understand that this is a learning process and I plan on learning from my mistakes along the way. The things I learn from my first deal will far outweigh any of the money I make from it.

Looking forward to meeting you all!

[Brian Garlington]

@Chris Yung

Fabulous first steps Chris and congratulations! I would highly recommend getting pre-approved with a lender first. I have a lender that's helped me acquire 4 properties out of state and if it's a SFR they only require 20% and you won't pay any PMI. Give strong consideration to flying out to the area you want to purchase in at least once. i flew out to Ohio a couple of times before I started buying in Cleveland.