All Forum Posts by: David Huston

My wife and I are considering buying one of our friends homes. We currently have five SFR’s. Thus far we have lived in each one taking advantage of owner occupied financing. We don’t really want to move into this other home and we don’t really want to put down 20%. These are friends of ours and are in a situation that they need to sell pretty quickly. They are willing to work with us any way they can if we buy it from them. I know there must be other ways to get this deal done. I just don’t know how. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I would read over the landlord and tenant act or laws regulating landlord/tenant. I assume Chicago will be more difficult than in Arizona as Arizona’s landlord and tenant act is pretty conservative and seems to protect the landlord a bit. I’ve also never used a lawyer or a paralegal as the process is simple here. I can get rid of bad tenants within a month. Also, in cases like yours I have filed an emergency notice to get them out quicker.

I don’t know the landlord/tenant act or laws in Chicago. However, I’ve done several evictions in Arizona as my first two 4 plexs were not in a great area and I will tell you that I’ve never had a tenant show up for the court hearing. Not a single one.

I recommend the launch pad method. Buy a house for yourself to live in with owner occupy financing. Then in a couple of years (or less sometimes) buy another house and turn the house that you’re moving out of into a rental. My wife have done this with the last three homes. Now we have three sfh’s as rentals and live in the fourth one. I would caution though to make sure every house you buy will make a good rental. I say this because I’m at the end of the launch pad road as the house we currently live in won’t make a good rental.

I agree with Joe Villanueve. I would make the minimum payments and save the $600 monthly for you next house. I currently have four sfh’s. My wife and I have lived in each of them therefore we were able to get owner occupied financing on all of them. We just keep on moving up. Unfortunately we now live in a higher end area that would not make for a good rental area. So now I have to change strategies.