All Forum Posts by: Mason Vitalis

The main obstacle beginner investors seem to be running into in the Minneapolis market is coming up with that initial down payment on the first property. It's not easy. Especially with the spring market kicking off and relatively high interest rates, it's very difficult to out save the market. This is why I am a huge supporter of down payment assistance. Many new investors don't know this is even an option, but it can be, in many cases, the answer to their biggest problem. 

Essentially if you make less than $140k per year, you can most likely qualify for some form of DPA. Sometimes upwards of $18,000! This is a major boost for those who don't have thirty grand laying around for a 5% down payment. In some cases, the down payment is even less than the DPA. That coupled with getting the seller to cover commissions and closing costs, and you could potentially get into your first investment property for $0 out of pocket. I've even seen investors who get a credit at closing. Imagine not only getting into a property for nothing but also getting paid one or two thousand dollars at closing!

It comes at the cost of basically a second mortgage with the same or sometimes lower interest rate as your primary loan. This means adding somewhere in the neighborhood of $100-$200 to your monthly payment. All you have to do is find a deal that cash flows or just breaks even with the extra expense and live in the property for at least one year. Then rinse and repeat to become the ultimate serial househacker! After four or five years you could have a few thousand coming in per month in cash flow and hundreds of thousands in total equity in your portfolio. This is when things really snowball.

Now is when you could redeploy that equity in a cash out refinance or 1031 exchange to fund your next deal. And the next and the next and so on. This strategy creates what I like to call an "equity farm", a foundation that funds your entire portfolio. And it all started with basically nothing out of pocket.

I know it works because I've seen it happen dozens of times with many new investors. It's a tried-and-true process!

Who out there is ready to take that first step toward financial freedom with this strategy?

Shoot me a DM if you'd like to talk more or get in touch with an investor friendly lender in the Twin Cities. You could also find one right here on BP through the lender finder. Just ask them about down payment assistance and see how they can help you.

In this course we will cover everything from deal analysis to property management to scaling. There will be time for questions and for any experienced investors in the room to give their thoughts as well. We aim to create an atmosphere of like-minded investors who want to help each other and grow together. Whether you are just starting out on your real estate investment journey or working on that next deal, this is the place for you!

Often, I run into people who say something like "I'm waiting for the slow winter market" or "I'm waiting till the market crashes". While these are effective strategies and good ways to get deals when they happen, they aren't worth waiting for in my opinion. Especially for those trying to save up for a down payment, and waiting for the "perfect" conditions, this can be detrimental. 

In 2020 the average price per square foot for a duplex in the twin cities was $171. In 2024 that went up about 18% to $201 per square foot.

Can you save an extra 18% in four years for that downpayment? Maybe the answer is yes. Most of us would probably say no. This is why it's better to just get into the market when you can rather than waiting. In the Twin Cities market, we're typically seeing about 5% appreciation in the small multi-family space specifically year over year for the last 8 years. This means buying a duplex in 2020 would give you about a 25% ROI on appreciation alone by 2025. That doesn't even include cash flow and loan paydown. Not to mention the possible tax benefits you could be getting.

All that to say you can almost never out save the market. Especially with the inflation we've been seeing the last few years. It's better to get in as soon as possible to reap the rewards later. Just like Warren Buffet says, "time in the market beats timing the market". Granted he's mainly talking about stocks, but I think the same logic applies here.

Now this obviously doesn't mean you should just buy any deal. No deal is better than a bad deal, but there's great deals in every market. It's just a matter of finding them! 

For those of you out there who use this strategy, how is it going? Do you have any regrets or changes you would make looking back?

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Most people see high interest rates and immediately think it's not a good time to buy. The flip side of that coin is that if you are in the market while rates are high, there's a lot less competition. You can actually get an even better deal on the front end by getting things like closing costs and commissions covered by the seller and sometimes even under listing price. 

There are good deals in every market. I am to this day finding good cash flowing deals on market that have 20%-30% CoC for owner occupants. If we're seeing those numbers while rates are high, just imagine the jump in cash flow when you refinance to a lower rate!

There are many ways to make money in real estate, but few are as relatively easy and low budget as small multi-family properties. With 5% down conventional loans and FHA loans, buying a property with two or three units can cost less than $30k out of pocket. This can be even lower with down payment assistance if you qualify. If you live in one unit and rent out the other, you can break even or even have positive cash flow. Then with the equity you build up through loan paydown and appreciation over the course of a few years you can cash out refinance and use that money to snowball into another property. After doing this a few times, your properties can basically pay for themselves. This process can continue almost indefinitely until financial freedom! You can grow your initial $30k investment into a multimillion-dollar portfolio. If you are just starting out in real estate investing, go get you a small multi-family property!

Welcome to BP Alivia!

It sounds like you have a great starting point, Chris! I think the answer to your question depends on what you need in a property. If you have a family, it might be better to get another property but if you're willing to rent out half your house I think that's a great idea. And who says you can't do both! The skies the limit especially if you have a house that could potentially be made into a duplex. The extra income from renting your current house would certainly help out regardless of what you decide to do and if you do your homework on a second house, it'll pay for itself! I hope this helps and good luck!

I just bought a single-family house using down payment assistance and it works great for me! For me it's basically a second mortgage so about $100 is tacked onto my monthly payment because my loan was 5% down. In my opinion it's great for starting out because you don't have to pay so much out of pocket but interest rates are still pretty high so I would recommend making the down payment if you can afford so as to avoid paying more in the long run. Hope this helps!

Everyone seems to sleep on rent by the room. There are always single college students and short-term renters who don't mind renting just a room. Especially because it's tough to find even a studio to rent for anything under $1000 right now. In my opinion, if you have the time to manage a short/medium term rental on this property, it would defiantly be worth your time. Good luck on this investment, it sounds like you've got a great deal!