New Investor in Philadelphia, PA

[Mary Umoh]

Hi, I'm Mary. I recently moved to Philadelphia from NJ where I work as a software engineer. I'm a newbie to RE investing but I've spent a great deal of time listening to the BP podcast, reading books, forums and the like and I'm ready to finally stop talking about investing and actually do it.

My goal this year is to acquire my first property and house hack to start. I'm looking for 2-3 unit multifamily properties that fit in my $200k-$250k budget with minimal work to be completed. I'm not certain if I'll do conventional, FHA, or 203k but I'm doing my due diligence in finding and speaking with lenders and investor-friendly agents. My long-term strategy is to buy and hold.

My rental lease is up this August and I'll start applying for pre-approval in April. Until then, I'm going through the pre-qualification process to get an idea of where I may land. I have a good amount of savings and good credit.

I'm a bit nervous about it all but it'd eat me up inside to renew my lease and continue to help pay down someone else's mortgage.