First time buyer. Looking for 2 family. HCOL. Good income.

[Roberto Rohann]

Hello BP ! I live in a Suburb of a high cost of living city i.e. NYC. I’m a single professional, no children, no spouse. I have zero debt.  I earn ~250k per year.  My income is reliable in a stable career. My car is paid off and I’m currently staying in a small room at families house while house hunting because I don’t want to sign a lease to rent again.  My financial situation is new…I’ve spent years to get to this point to be debt free and get to a position with a decent income.  My savings are in the 125k range…I’m working in increasing that number. 


The Average SINGLE family home cost is just over 600k in my areas as per Zillow.  I am looking for a 2 family home with a finished basement.  2 families here are flying off the market. The ones in nice neighborhoods are going for 950k-1.3M. The 3 bedroom  apartments in those homes rent for 2700-3k if the neighborhood is nice.

I have put in two offers thus far and didn't win either house. One was bought all cash. The other was bought with a much larger down payment. My plan was to use an FHA loan with 3.5% down. But it seems that sellers don't take FHA/low down payment offers serious in this market.

My plan was to owner occupy the property for 3-4 years and then rent out both apartments and hopefully break even after PITI and have a small amount of cash flow to cover repairs and vacancy. I don't plan to make a profit from the property. I would just like to secure an asset in my younger years so in the distant future I can have some cash flow in retirement which is 30+ years away for me and have something to pass on to the younger generation in my family.

However I have become a bit discouraged. I have been looking for the last year and prices have increased about 100k in that time, coupled with interest rates rising. I’m getting concerned that buying a property at this time  will no longer be a good investment and may become an expensive burden due to the Mortage being higher than the rental income. Moving is not an option because my family lives in the region and I value being close to them over money/property out of state. 

Any advice appreciated! 

- A frustrated first time home buyer :)