Newbie in Virginia Beach, VA

[Nick Aquiningoc]

Hello BP Community!

Background

I'm a recently separated Navy veteran currently working in the IT industry here in Hampton Roads, Virginia. I'm originally born and raised on Guam (proud Chamorro!) and enlisted in the Navy after High School. About 3 weeks ago, I started researching how to make passive income and stumbled upon the many videos by BiggerPockets on Youtube. I was hooked! I have zero real estate experience, mostly due to living in/renting apartments. Although, in the past 3 weeks, I have dedicated my time to learning and consuming as much knowledge as I can. This includes reading books, watching videos/interviews, and listening to podcasts (especially the BP RE Podcast!). Thankfully, I've been able to pay down all my debt, build an excellent credit score, and now able to save a substantial amount of my income every month by adopting a frugal mindset where I prioritize paying myself first and realizing the idea of spending less to earn more.

Goals

Currently, the game plan is to purchase a small multi-family property and house hack, hopefully netting some cashflow from the property as well. I'm looking to move out of my expensive apartment and into a smaller and cheaper apartment, allowing me save an additional 7-800 dollars a month. I'm willing to wait for the right deal while in my smaller apartment, all while building up my savings/cash reserves. When I do find the right deal, the plan is to use the VA loan for financing. My ultimate goal is to build a RE portfolio large enough to where the cashflow allows me to retire early and builds a foundation for my family and future generations to come. Hopefully my endeavors in real estate will serve as a springboard for my family to be even greater in whatever they decide to pursue.

I'm excited to be a part of this community and learn with you all!

[Patti Robertson]

@Nickolay Kononov - Analysis Paralysis is the death of any wannabe investor.  A commonly used formula among investor is that you want to invest no more than 100 times what the rent would be for your purchase and repairs. Multiplexes are typically going for $80K+ per unit in our market these days. Roughly speaking if you bought a 4plex for $320K and used a 30 year loan at 4%, your mortgage from the 3 units would pay all your expenses and you would live not only for free, but every month your tenants would be giving you a little more equity.  In this scenario, you should pretend you have a rent payment yourself, and put money into a savings account for future repairs between tenants, etc.  Your next step is to find a mortgage lender - local, not internet, and not Navy Fed - ask any local agent why, and an agent.  Just... do... it...  Today, not tomorrow.  ;)