All Forum Posts by: Kwesi S.

Hello BP World,

This is actually my second post but I was so eager to post a question that I did not formally introduce myself. In 2005 I got my real estate license while obtaining my bachelors degree and I did that until 2007. During that time I sold about 6 investment properties. At that time I had no money and but I knew that one day buying investment property was something that I wanted to do.

Fast forward to 2013, I am now married and plan to start a family. Both me and my wife work in education. Now that we have the funds to do so I am looking to purchase something this year. I am also looking to buy investments while I am actually still renting. I am not looking to become filthy rich ( buy hey if it happens it happens), but I want to continue to live very comfortably.

From BP I hope to learn as much about real estate investing as possible. That may sound a little vague but I want to absorb it all!!! And hopefully put it to practice. I also will share any ideas I have (even though at this time its not to much).
I am also seeking to network with other investors and bounce ideas off of one another with the possibility of even coming together and doing business in the future.
I welcome any advise/suggestions

Kwesi S.

PS - After creating a BP account I decided to goggle my name and I noticed that my BP information came up. Is there a way for this not to happen?

Thanks Luke. I appreciate the response. Living in NYC can be really expensive, however the amount that we pay in rent is a steal. because of this over the past 3 years we have been able to save a bunch of money. All of this money is just sitting in the bank and not serving us any purpose. We figure we want to make this money work for us now. We plan on renting for at least another year or so. We figure if we take about 18k from our savings and purchase an investment no more than 65k (2 family between 5 and 6 bedrooms) we should be able to make our initial investment back in hopefully no more than 18 months. Once we have made our initial investment we would then start looking for a home for ourselves.

If we were to purchase an OO in NYC, first off our mortgage will definitely be more than we currently pay in rent. We will also run the risk of our tenants not paying rent on a monthly basis which would then cost us an additional expense.

Maybe I just need to do more research? Do my ideas make sense? Anyone have any suggestions on were I can go to do more research?

Thanks for the help Ben. Giving our Buffalo/Brooklyn connection, I would love to talk more about my ideas with you.

Michael, so you are saying I should use my savings to try to pay off my student loans before I purchase investment property? I am sure you have more experience than I do but I dont see how that can be a good idea. I want to use any potential cash flow to actually help pay the student loans faster and not continue paying a few dollars extra above the minimum payment.

Thanks for the help guys!! I really appreciate it. I have always been interested in real estate and would like to make some extra cash on the side. I want to purchase my first investment property in Buffalo, NY (which is where I went to college) and i am really familiar with the housing market. I currently live in New York City and the cost of properties here in my opinion are really expensive and often does not make any sense. You can easily pay 300k for a home and still be afraid to walk down your street at night.

Lynn, having the %20 - %25 down is not the issue I just want to know what my best option is at this point. My job is pretty stable but you never know what can happen and I feel if I purchased an investment property now (while I have the funds to do so) I can be building towards something long term.

I would really like to hear from people who have used this technique (bought an investment property that was not owner occupied before buying their first home) just so I can get a little more insight.

Just want to make sure i am making the best decisions for my family and I

I have laid it out to her and her reasoning is similar to yours. She does not want the tenants to be to close by and also she does not want any uncomfortable situations to arise. I tried searching my question on google/bing many times and I have not read anything that suggest that it may be wise to purchase investment property before your own home and I just cant understand why this is not a smart idea. I understand with real estate many risk are involved, but I cant understand this is not a good idea if it is done correctly.

The properties that I have my eye on are multi family dwellings (nothing less than 5 to 6 bedrooms) and rent it to students (all with an individual lease in their parents name)

Over the past few months I have been trying to figure out ways to make some extra cash. Since I am not interested in starting a business or the stock market, I have decided to focus on real estate. My question is as follows:

Should I purchase a income/investment property before I purchase my own home? My plan is to purchase a income.investment property in a college community (walking distance from campus) and rent the property to students (actually their parents). I then plan to save the cash flow and combine it with my savings to then purchase a home for myself and down the road purchase more income/investment property. Is this a good idea?

I am meeting with a mortgage broker on Thursday to begin the pre-approval process for a loan for the investment property but just though conversation and setting up my appointment I feel that the leander is actually trying to get me to purchase my own home first.

Info about myself:

9 months married
living in rental property
not sure where i want to purchase the home I want to live in
no kids
my wife and I have full time jobs
my wife is not interested in living in a multi family home
we owe over 100k in student loans...lol