All Forum Posts by: Steven Catudal

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to introduce myself. I live central New Jersey and am under contract for my first duplex. I have been interested in real estate for a few years now and decided to finally pull the trigger. My plan is to live in the duplex for the first year as required by my loan and then rent out.   

My long-term goal is to build up my own real estate empire to leave my job and spend time doing things I truly love. But for now I am continuing along with my normal W2, saving as much as possible, and learning every chance I get.

I am looking to meet like-minded individuals and hopefully some mentors along the way.

Steven              

Hi all,

I am under contract for my first property (du-plex with one unit rented out) and had a question on the financing. I have good credit (730+) and solid income.

I am currently lined up for a conventional loan with ~15% down, 6.5% rate, and low closing costs but this would use up most of my liquid cash (minus emergency fund). Based on my calculations, this would lead to cashflows around $700 per month.

I am now looking more into FHA loans and wondering if that would be a better idea since I can only use this on my first property. This way I could save lots of the liquid cash I have in case I want to purchase another property. However, after doing the math on the 3% down payment, I would no longer cash flow. I have income income to off-set some negative months.

What do you all think is a better idea?

Thanks, Kristen. I will send you a DM.

My parents are currently living in Germany but want to buy a property in the Panama City, Florida. They plan to rent it out until they are ready to move back to the US. Their current income is in Germany but they file taxes in the US and hold US citizenship. They have been trouble getting a loan here in the US. 

Has anyone faced a similar situation and found a solution? They have great credit, are putting ~37%+ down, and their income more than covers their current living expenses and the new mortgage.