Newbie In need of some advice/help

[Reaz Alli]

Hello BP, I am a new investor here ready to get my feet wet. I am 28 yrs old. My fiance and I are looking to make our first investment deal. we have been reading books and doing all our ground work to learn as much as we can.​ Our only bump in the road is we just moved from New York to San Antonio, Texas and we are not too familiar with the best strategy to start with. We wanted to start with a duplex and house hack but all the duplexes that we have seen are in bad locations and we don't feel comfortable living in these run down areas. We aren't sure if we should buy a fixer upper, rehab it, maybe live in it, while saving to invest in the multi family houses or if we should start with a different strategy. In New York there were a lot of multi family houses which made sense but I'm not to sure if San Antonio would be the same. We have seen a lot of SFH that could be flipped. Should we change our strategy and maybe start to BRRRR on SFH? Right now we are currently renting and want to stop wasting money. Our lease is up in April 2017, and we have enough for a 20% down payment on a house for up $168,000. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks BP!

[Will Pritchett]

@Reaz Alli  Welcome to San Antonio!  I think you have a great opportunity being able and willing to move.  I'd consider a low down payment owner-occupied type of loan and not put down 20 percent if possible.  Hold your cash if you can.  So many things are unknown about your goals but I agree with many of the multi units here in SA being in places I wouldn't want to live.  I'll throw out a few ideas though.

Maybe buy a house near UTSA or another university as an owner-occupant and then rent it as student housing (if allowed) once you move on. Some investors take that approach to get more cash flow with a little more work. Or buy a house and take on another responsible roommate or two to help cover the mortgage and sock away all you can to buy again in a year or so. Or rent cheap and just buy investment properties. Renting isn't always a bad thing - I have heard some pretty good arguments for it, in fact. I would be like you though and looking to own. If you aren't debt averse though, consider the low-down options for owner occupants. Your mtg. will be a bit higher with PMI etc. but your rate should be lower than an investment property type of loan.

     Just a few things to think about.  Let me know if I can help with areas of town etc.  I think that is my strength due to my other job as a firefighter/paramedic.  I can usually tell you where I wouldn't invest personally due to the prevalence of drugs or violence.  Good luck!