House hacker in the making from Nassau County, New York

[Kevin Law]

Hi BP community, 

Been following the passive income/FIRE movement for quite some time now but only recently discovered the BP community. (and so glad I did). Like many people unfamiliar with REI, I always thought the only "responsible" route to homeownership was 20% down w/ a conventional loan. Thankfully, I can now say, "my eyes have been opened."

A little bit about my family and I - my wife and I and our LO live in what I would say is a class B/A neighborhood in Nassau County, Long Island. Renovated/new construction two family homes are priced around 850k-1M+ (easily). We are hoping to "make" a deal for a two family (dated/needs minor work) around the 650k to 750k range in the next few years. Property taxes are usually around 10-13k. Although cash flowing properties are pretty much impossible, we love the neighborhood and our families are near by. Our plan would be to buy a two family with a FHA at 3.5% down and force appreciation as much as possible to eventually re-finance down the line to a conventional 30year/20% mortgage.

Afterwards, plan would be to "hopefully" do some long distance investing in the Hudson Valley/Catskills or PA region and farther down the road. Currently, the focus is to save as much as possible, learn as much as possible through the forums, podcast, books, and network and begin building our team. The goal would be to build FI through REI and allow my wife(works in advertising) and I (civil engineer) to spend as much time as we want with our child(ren). (like many of you). Know I have much to learn but I am hoping my background in civil engineering/construction would be helpful when it comes to rehab/estimating and general coord. w/ contractors.

Like other high cost areas, deals cannot be found on MLS but I am confident there are deal to be made since I see plenty of flips on MLS. If you're in the Nassau County area, would love to meet.

Best, 

Kevin