All Forum Posts by: Sam Westfall

@Rebecca Knox It seems like most of the seasoned investors that have replied on this post agree with you. I am now more seriously looking into house hacking options in my area. I am open to a seller financed or land contract, but I am pretty green and not exactly sure how to set up a purchase using a financing option like that. I was working with a realtor, but then put it on hold until I better understood how to finance a home. To achieve a deal like that, should I have him talk to sellers/listing agents to see if the seller would be open to a seller financed deal? Or should I call sellers/listing agents and try to find a deal myself?

For the properties about 2 hours away zip codes I was looking into for the <100K home include 54935 - 54936 (Fond Du Lac, WI), and 54901 - 54906 (Oshkosh, WI). Although I have been gaining information on my personal finances, and my capability to achieve a conventional loan would require a cosigner...

Looking forward to your response Rebecca!

@Brock Mogensen I have looked into this quite a bit, but feel the risk is too much. I live nearby UWM in Milwaukee (53211 ZIP) so the duplexes on average are about 300k-400k right now. For a 350k home a 30 year FHA loan at 4% with 3.5% ($12,250) down payment, the monthly payment would be around $2,000 a month which would be detrimental if I had a couple months of vacancy, or a tenant refused to pay rent.

Also few of the homes in my neighborhood pass the 1% rule (not that it is a make or break), but then a duplex in my neighborhood is already going to have a tough time cash flowing. Then I would try to squeeze a free room for myself in there too. 

I feel it is safer to invest in my first home with a monthly payment that I can afford if all goes south. Even if it means it has to be in a different city and be managed by a property manager.

I am open to discussion and love the input especially by someone who lives close by!

@Eric Janson I was looking to buy a move in ready home that I could rent out hopefully for solid passive income each month. I thought hopefully the part-time job would help improve my odds of getting a loan through a bank. I could possibly bring in a partner, but would I just looking for someone with a full time job to fill a void in the eyes of the bank? 

Do you think I could improve odds of getting a loan if I went to a bank for a Business loan? That way I could incorporate possible monthly income generated into my income. I would have 20% down for the loan as well. 

I have not reached out to an agent yet as I wanted to get my financing down first, and see what options I have. I know of the idea of the seller financing option, but am wondering if they are working with an agent, would I have my agent call and ask if the owner would be open to seller financing? Or does seller financing usually only occur when its for sale by owner? 

Thanks for the responses!

Hi guys,

I'm pretty new to the bigger pockets community, but after listening to the bigger pockets podcasts I figured I'd make a forum post to see what the bigger pockets community thinks about my situation. I am currently a full time college student in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (I have about 2 years left). I have a credit score above 700, no loans, just started a part time job 15 hours a week at $10 an hour, and have saved up about 15k. In my area, there is mostly multifamily houses for sale around 350k. This seems like it is way out of my budget and risk tolerance, so I started to look in neighborhoods in Wisconsin within 2 hours of where I live that have single family/duplexes for sale under 100k. My family thinks I should wait until I'm out of school, but I am very passionate about this and excited to learn about real estate investing first hand. I guess I'm looking for what approach an experienced investor would do in my situation, or if I should wait and just continue to build my knowledge until I'm out of school.

Looking forward to responses!