Starting to invest as a college student

[Jarod Blackowiak]

I have been studying real estate investing for the last few years. I am at the point where I really want to start investing. Being a college student, I do not have what it takes to qualify for a traditional mortgage. My question being, is there a way to get creative with financing and be able to get a owner occupied duplex or triplex in the Minneapolis area? Any information would be great, as I am still learning through this whole process. 

I would love to connect with some experienced investors to learn even more about this industry. 

[Tim Swierczek]

@Jarod Blackowiak & @Michael Masterson on traditional mortgages (FHA, VA, USDA, & Conventional) the seller is prohibited from paying any part of your down payment. The seller can only pay your closing costs and prepaid expenses up to a limit which is different for each loan type and can vary by the down payment.

I would recommend you get a cosigner on a single-family home.  In this situation, you can get a place with as little as $1,000 down, or the more traditional 3% conventional, or 3.5% FHA loan.  These down payments do not exist on multi-family homes with a cosigner.  FHA requires 25% down one a duplex with a non-occupying cosigner and Conventional starts at 15% down.  You do have one chance to get a low down payment loan with a cosigner on a duplex with a non-occupying cosigner but the stars must align.  I've been a loan officer for 17 years and do nearly a 100 duplex loans a year and I've seen it executed 2 or 3 times in my career.