First investment property and home

[Andrew Bullock]

So I have many questions and I don't even know where to start but pretty much here is the deal there is a triplex in the area I'm looking at moving to and u need help to find out if my thoughts are even remotely close to a good idea. Here are the firm facts it is a fixer upper, it has 2- one bedroom one bath apartments and 1- three bedroom one bath apartment the asking price is 179500 and it is right down the street from the college in soldotna alaska a one bedroom apartment in Soldotna goes for about 800$ on avarage and I'm looking at a fha loan with 3.5% down and an intrest rate of 3.75% also I'm going to be using a property manager who charges 10%. So if I live in the 3 bedroom apartment and do all of the fixing out of pocket is this a decent deal? Also this is my first house so I want to make sure I do it right I know one thing I have on my side is time because I'm only 24 and this is scary. What do I need to be aware of and how can I cover my butt(cya) in every way possible? And is there anything I am overlooking? Thank you for reading this and I'm sorry it's so long.

[Nathaniel Parr]

1. Are you going to pay higher than appraisal for a fixer-upper? I'm not familiar with the market down in Soldotna, but, I'd be wary of that. If the owner won't budge on that price, you might want to hold off and look for a better deal. I suggest you decide how you want/need this property to cash flow to make it work, then do the math and figure out the price you need to get it at in order to hit that target.

2. I am curious why you are going to give a cut to a property manager when you will be living in the building yourself. Any reason you can't manage it yourself? I take it you might be a North Slope worker? In that case I might understand.