Rentals or Keep Saving for BRRR?

Question

Just looking for some opinions on what to do. Currently rent right now looking for my first property(multifamily). Currently have 20k liquid, about 22k in investments I can liquidate. Cars paid off. Zero debt. Score is about 770. Was thinking of an fha or even conventional to get into a multifamily and house hack. I'd like to get more multi family properties eventually after the first and not have to save up a down payment each time. I know it doesnt happen overnight but wondering if i should just keep saving and buy something cheaper and try to rehab it and do the brrr strategy and use the equity to scale faster? I do have a good job and can save up for down payments just seems like it would a very very long time to reach my goals having to start over and keep saving a downpayment of 20 percent. I guess what im asking is, is it better to use all my savings for one property or maybe save some more and try to go the brrr route instead and get more out of that money instead of using it all as a downpayment for one property and starting over? Thanks in advance any feedback in appreciated!

Michael Dumler · Answer

Account Closed, in theory, you make a good point about completing a BRRRR to build more capital for future investments, however, in reality, your time, energy, and peace of mind are just as important. If this is your first deal and you're still paying someone else's mortgage, then I advise you to house hack before tackling a BRRRR deal. For a 2-4 unit property, FHA will require as little as 3.5% down, for conventional, I believe 20% is the minimum down payment which means you'll avoid PMI. You're also facing so many additional factors/steps for a BRRRR deal such as sourcing deals below market, finding reliable contractors, up against other competitive investors, future market conditions/values, running numbers religiously, exit strategies, etc. House hack your first deal haha, needless to say, limiting living expenses will allow your income to snowball. Hope this helps!

Michael Mannino II · Answer

Account Closed, Great question. I started off house hacking and that helped a ton with the monthly bills and allowed me to build up more cash for the next project. What I did was live in the property, and renovate it. After 2 years sold it for 2X what I paid for it originally. Then used that cash to snowball into the next one, which is even bigger... Now currently at 50 doors, and selling my 6 unit which has enough equity to purchase a 16-unit apartment... What I have found out is that successful people just keep trading up and up. There gets to a point where your assets make more $ than you do. Which takes care of saving up for your downpayment problem. DM me if you'd like, I'd love to chat more about how we do this in our business!

Account Closed · Answer

Thank you for your response. That is a great point. I wasnt even thinking about how I could trade up into bigger units that is a great idea. It seems hard right now to cash flow because of rates but even like you said I could always buy and get my foot in the door and always trade up if my first property appreciates well.

Account Closed · Answer

Thank you for your feedback! I think that will be the best idea. Brrr does seem like alot to tackle for the first time. Have a good point I would save even more by house hacking. Thank you again.