All Forum Posts by: Erica Ho

Hi all,

I am hoping to start my real estate investment journey and can't decide between either co-buying my first real estate property in LA vs buying an out of state investment property. 

For the first option I would co-buy with my sister who would then occupy the house and help find and manage renters. Co-buying would make it easier for me to pay a down and mortgage in an expensive area like LA and hopefully we could qualify for some owner occupant benefits (not sure about the details there). My concern with LA is that it would be difficult to find a property that works given the high prices and I'm not sure if I would take advantage of FHA loans because of it's high mortgage insurance cost.

On the other hand, I had initially thought to invest out of state by myself in a much more affordable home and rent out the place through a property manager. However, I would then need to purchase an investor mortgage and also I wouldn't be as familiar with the real estate market. In addition, I'm not clear on whether owner occupant mortgages are significantly better than investor mortgages.

I would be renting in both cases since I currently live in NYC and am not sure where I would want to stay long term. A third option I am entertaining is that I move out of state and house hack but that would be longer term as I haven't decided where. Wondering what others think or even details/things I have not considered. I am pretty lost here as to how to best get started...any advice would be welcomed. Thank you!

Thank you Brad! 

Hello all,

I am thinking of co-buying a home with my sister who would then live in the home but I wouldn't. We would be co-borrowers and I'm wondering if we would qualify for owner occupant financing. Or would I also have to live in the home for us to qualify for owner occupant financing.  

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful answers! 

Thank you for the info Matthew! What counts as income from the property? Would that be the cash flow I get or the home value?

Hello,

I am a first time home buyer and was thinking of buying an out of state rental property first. The second home I would buy would be my primary residence in a much more expensive area like NYC where I would be house hacking. Would I still qualify for a FHA loan on that primary residence since it's technically my second property? Trying to see what is the best approach to get favorable first time home owner benefits.