FHA for a 4 plex!! Advice?

[Chase Romine]

I'm currently saving up cash(almost have 10k) and am going to use a FHA loan to purchase a 4 plex. Now I understand running numbers and all but when it comes to having a handy man and roof guy to come out and help inspect the house for my due diligence, how many times is recommend I visit the house? As much as needed or try to get everyone out at once?

[David Espinosa]

@Chase Romine

The bank is going to require an appraisal and highly suggest an inspection. I would go with an experienced inspector not the cheapest. He/She will go over in detail everything about the property good bad and ugly. They will usually let you know if you need something to be further looked at by specialists but can give you a really good idea what you are buying. I strongly suggest doing the entire inspection with the inspector, if they go in the crawl space, join them, if they climb up into the attic through a small access hole, go with them. They will show you things to look out for and on your next purchase you will have that much more knowledge about what you are looking at. I would then suggest going back to the negotiation table after the inspection to renegotiate. Don't forget to ask for leases, prorated rents and deposits in your contract. I would also suggest getting an estoppel signed by all parties for every tenant. If you go the FHA route don't forget about the 203k loan they offer, it can help build equity and get you closer to the 78% were you can then refinance and drop the MIP faster.