Newbie investor looking to purchase the first investment property

[Changseok Kim]

Hi,

I recently opened my eyes in real estate investment. I was always scared of getting involved in it, but after reading and researching, i finally decided to take a step. I am currently living in kalamazoo, MI. Currently, i do not have enough cash to pay 20% of down payment for conventional loan, but i have a house which I paid $150,000 towards $270,000 mortgage. I am thinking to have either home equity loan or cash out refinance to invest. The rental costs and house prices in my area are not high. So I am not sure if BRRRR would work. So i guess the only good option narrows down to flipping house. But it has been seller's market for 4 years here. I cannot really find any good deals within my budget.

Can I ask for advice of where I can start to make things happen? What would you do in my situation?

[Red Smith]

I was checking out properties in Muskegon and North Shore for up/down duplex rentals, seems to be pretty decent ROI. And you definitely have the equity to open a HELOC on your home, but use due caution. You have to be disciplined when using a HELOC.  I would use as much cash as possible and as little HELOC as possible. So long as your investment property mortgage interest is higher than your HELOC interest, you shouldn't have to worry about paying it back for a few years...typically you'll pay 25% down on a multi-family unit