All Forum Posts by: Mark Smith

So here is a bit of my story to help explain my thinking. I received my master's degree in May, 2014. Along with that came student loan debt...awesome! I have a good job, but student loan payments really take up a lot of that cash flow. Since I have began my real estate research, I have come across and learned a bit about FHA loans. I'm hoping to hear from those who have used FHA loans. I plan to live in my first property, so we can check that piece off the list! With such a small amount down (3.5%), I would expect to pay a higher interest rate, is this true? Are all FHA loans 3.5% down, or is it 'as low as' 3.5% with the possibility of the percentage down being greater? How difficult is the approval process? I've also seen 203k loans that can be added on for repairs, so I would love to hear from those who have taken advantage of them as well.

Thank you for any input!

That absolutely helps @John Cohen.  I just got hung up on the term "underwriting."  I definitely want to be as conservative as possible when analyzing a property, good advice.

Thank you @John Cohen.  What do you mean when you say to make sure management is supported in the underwriting?  Does this mean that in the original lease I should make it clear that there is the possibility of bringing in third party management?

There is a lot of great advice and information here, thank you everyone!

@Jen Faulkner it sounds like you're already doing what I have been thinking; manage until it becomes too much of a nuisance.  Thank you for the real-world example!

@Kenneth LaVoie I think it's a great point that it is good to be hands-on in the beginning to learn how long things should take to be done right.  I think we have similar thoughts on this topic.

@David S. thank you for that great breakdown!  I hope to follow a similar path.  It excites me to think about the possibility of having enough income to quit my job one day.

@David Dachtera I have two books on their way, so it's a start.

@David Dachtera education is why I'm here!

Self maintenance is really just the game plan to keep as much cash as possible to acquire the second property, from there on out I would seek out third party maintenance.

@David Dachtera maybe what I have in mind isn't practical.  I can provide maintenance to a point, so I would need someone else available anyway.  My thinking is that if I got into a situation where I couldn't be there, I call up my handyman.  Of course, this does not prevent my phone from ringing at 2am, but I don't like the idea of paying a property manager 10% off the top.  My understanding (from my whole one week of research!) is that as long as you do your due diligence in choosing the right property, along with screening tenants, those 2am phone calls are a rarity.  And as I said above, once I acquire more than one property, I would seriously consider property management.

@Matthew Anderson this is exactly what I'm thinking.  If it doesn't take much of my time, why not save the money?  Thank you for your input.

@David Dachtera of course I respect your input as you are already a player in a game which I have not even attempted yet, but here is what I'm thinking.  If I live in my first property, I don't see anything wrong with doing a little maintenance if I just have to walk downstairs or across the hall to take care of it.  However, when I have multiple properties, of course I will bring in someone else to do the work.  I fully understand and agree with working on, not in, your business, but when I'm just starting out trying to save up cash for another property, it seems that saving a couple hundred dollars is worth my time.  If you still disagree with me I welcome your thoughts.