All Forum Posts by: Eric P.

Doing better then me.. I'm 30 with about the same.  Been working me A$$ off all my life too lol Stupid NJ.  I'm in the same boat, NJ is really expensive and anything I can afford to put 20% down on is in bad areas.

My wife and I live in North Jersey and have student loans, so even though we make pretty good money I can only manage to put $1,000 away after all our bills, my investments and fun money.  I found your post very inspiring as we keep finding it hard to pull the trigger feeling like we don't have enough of a safety blanket, but you're really going for it!  I hope it all works out!  

@joseph Can I get an owner occupied loan and rent that home without having ever lived in the home?  I'm a little confused.  

This is all very helpful. So far I'm finding its likely best to stick with a standard house with a standard mortgage not try to get fancy with Homepath or anything. Then I just need to run the numbers and decide if its worth putting down 20% to avoid PMI or see if I can put less down, pay PMI, allowing me to purchase more property faster.

@Russell Brazil that's a really great point about the extra $ being in equity rather than just gone.  I live in NJ and am focusing on places in South Jersey.  Anything cheaper than $100K starts to get into questionable neighborhoods I wouldn't be comfortable with.  So I guess I'm just better off continuing to save and look at that 20% or maybe the 15% Mike was talking about.

I like the idea of these 10% homepath properties because if I'm looking for something around $100,000 I can put $10,000 down, have $2,500 for closing and $5,000 for emergencies which means in about 6 months to a year I'd be ready to purchase my next place. If I put $20,000 down on a $100k house that means I wont be able to buy another place PMI free for at least 3 years with my current finances.

What is "expensive" If its $100 a month and I'm getting $300 cash each month I'll have $200 left over. Once 20% of the loan is payed I can refinance eliminating PMI correct?

I'd rather have 2 houses paying me $200 each a month after PMI rather than 1 house bringing in $300 and no PMI. This will also help build my net worth.

Okay, so if I were to focus on some HomePath properties that only require 10% down would that be a better option?  

So are you saying that if I'm purchasing a rental property I'll have to come up with 20% to be considered for a mortgage?  What if I buy a homepath property that only requires 10%?

Is there really a point to trying to avoid PMI? For example. I'm looking at breaking into RE investing through long term rentals, starting w/ houses around $100k and renting for $1250-$1500. Is it worth me putting down 20% just to avoid PMI? Or should I just go with the lowest amount possible for a down payment to get approved for a mortgage. I have about $30k to invest with. I'd like to keep $3,000 for closing costs and $5,000 for emergencies. I figure I could do 1 house this year at 20% or possibly 2 houses at 5%. I have perfect credit and an extra $1,000 a month I can do whatever with after bills, investments, and fun money.