All Forum Posts by: Kevin Law

@Wei Jie Yang - I am in a very similar situation - We currently live in Port Washington which surprisingly has a decent inventory of two families. It is not the most affordable area in Nassau County, by far. However, the commute into the city is fairly quick and the neighborhood is the anchor for us.

Depending on your situation, maybe you just need to get a little bit more creative with your arrangements (like @Craig Curelop) Maybe you cannot break-even by renting out the second unit but have you considered perhaps renting a room in addition to the 2nd unit?

Hey Marcus - Another option could be to scale up the number of units to move closer to cashflowing...i.e. look for triplex/quad (limit for FHA) to achieve a cash flowing property. In this case, you would probably have to save more for the upfront cost. Also, another thing to remember with a FHA loan is the property must be in a livable condition.

Wow - that is great news. In that case...unless interest rates are significantly higher on the conventional loan, the conventional loan would be the preferred route, imo. 

@Brad Jenkins Hoping for sooner than later for sure...who knows maybe we will make July 2020. Since my wife and I both work and our LO is in daycare full-time, just want to build a big enough safety blanket so that we could cover mortgage + daycare and vacancy during rehab before we get a tenant in place. 

We're in a similar situation in NY-metro. Unless you're willing to live in a C/D area, cash flow is most likely off the table. However, I will settle for rent savings, tenant helping us build equity, potential force appreciation and brrrr down the line. 

Hey @Cody Kale I was thinking the same thing at first but iirc 5% conventional is only available for SFH. 20% down is still required for duplex+. FHA doesn't sound as attractive with the PMI (<10% is for the life of the loan and >10% is for 11 years). You could always refi after 20% into a conventional. In additional, you'll have to pay the upfront fee for the FHA.

However, other than private money/hard money lenders, FHA may still be the best option for many of us. Just have to build it into the calculations.

Hi BP community, 

Been following the passive income/FIRE movement for quite some time now but only recently discovered the BP community. (and so glad I did). Like many people unfamiliar with REI, I always thought the only "responsible" route to homeownership was 20% down w/ a conventional loan. Thankfully, I can now say, "my eyes have been opened."

A little bit about my family and I - my wife and I and our LO live in what I would say is a class B/A neighborhood in Nassau County, Long Island. Renovated/new construction two family homes are priced around 850k-1M+ (easily). We are hoping to "make" a deal for a two family (dated/needs minor work) around the 650k to 750k range in the next few years. Property taxes are usually around 10-13k. Although cash flowing properties are pretty much impossible, we love the neighborhood and our families are near by. Our plan would be to buy a two family with a FHA at 3.5% down and force appreciation as much as possible to eventually re-finance down the line to a conventional 30year/20% mortgage.

Afterwards, plan would be to "hopefully" do some long distance investing in the Hudson Valley/Catskills or PA region and farther down the road. Currently, the focus is to save as much as possible, learn as much as possible through the forums, podcast, books, and network and begin building our team. The goal would be to build FI through REI and allow my wife(works in advertising) and I (civil engineer) to spend as much time as we want with our child(ren). (like many of you). Know I have much to learn but I am hoping my background in civil engineering/construction would be helpful when it comes to rehab/estimating and general coord. w/ contractors.

Like other high cost areas, deals cannot be found on MLS but I am confident there are deal to be made since I see plenty of flips on MLS. If you're in the Nassau County area, would love to meet.

Best, 

Kevin

Hi @Brenda Guzman! Just starting out as well but I would highly suggest picking up the updated House Hacking book by @Craig Curelop. I was on the pre-order and working my way through it right now and it is packed with information re house hacking. 

Sure you will find your answers in the book and if not, confident the book will point you to the right places.