All Forum Posts by: Cheryl Vawdrey

Hi All, 

Apologies in advance if this question is already covered within the forums.

Looking to invest in my first rental property and trying to decide on whether or not to focus on a condo or multi-unit in Queens and wanted to see what the going wisdom in the forums would be.  

Pros for Condos: more straight forward/traditional financing, i.e. will be able to put more down.  Lower maintenance needed from owner: things like snow and garbage removal, etc. will be covered in the monthly maintenance fees. 

Pros for Multi-Family: More rental income, more autonomy in managing (no condo board/rules, etc.) and based on my own personal experience, free-standing homes seem to appreciate fairly aggressively in Queens.

So many of the podcasts and exchanges I've read on BP seem very pro-multi-units and scaling up as big as possible. 

I want to follow a "slow and steady wins the race," so that in 5+ years, if I would like to do this full-time, I can.  

Any and all thoughts and feedback welcome!

Best,

Cheryl

Great tip!

Thanks - have been listening to the podcasts for a few weeks and now going through the forums - there is a lot of great information to be found.

My understanding is that in order to qualify for an FHA loan, I would have to make the condo my primary residence? I don't have the flexibility to move. Is there another type of loan that would require minimal down payment, akin to FHA?

Alternatively, what are your thoughts on putting lower down payments, i.e. 10% and paying PMI?

Thanks!

Hi!

Looking to start my real estate investment career with a 1 bedroom condo in Queens (Rego Park, Kew Gardens, Sunnyside) or possibly NJ (Weehawken, West New York).  Interested in pre-foreclosures, short sales or other ways of making my money stretch as much as possible.  

Quick question:  is there a general rule of thumb for down payments on investment properties?  Is 20% the ideal or another figure more the norm, so you could, for instance take the 20% for one property and divide it for down payments on 2 properties with 10% down for each?

Thanks,

Cheryl