All Forum Posts by: Daniel Bowden

I don't know if this is allowed but I would like to bump this post to generate some more discussion if possible. Thank you!

Mehran Kamari Thanks I'll check it out, I will definitely need to have that straitened out to get a loan.

Chantel Corbett Thank you for your kind words!

Mehran Kamari To be honest I'm not entirely sure about my credit. All of my student loans are paid off, and I've had a credit card since I was 18 that I've always paid off on time. Thanks for your tips!

Brandon Turner I'll definitely look into the realtor option, I could use the help, I had no idea it was free. Re-uploaded my photo, so we will see what happens. I checked out both of your posts, turns out I didn't read the first one like I thought (similar titles) So it was a great read. All of the videos in the first post, and the video in the second post were super helpful. Seeing a real world example spelled out like that was really eye opening and answered a lot of my questions. What a sweet deal that 90k 5 unit place was, I hope I can get lucky like that! thanks for your time and all of your help. I hope it will be ok for me to message you in the future with questions. It seems all of the articles I've been reading here about mfh's were written by you!

Calvin Lamb Thanks so much for your reply! I hadn't considered the pmi so thanks for mentioning that. Do you think it would be better for me to put down what money I have and get a regular loan?

Brandon Turner Thanks for taking the time to write all of this out. I had read the first article you posted but did not see this video so I will check it out! What resources do you use to find duplex/multi-family homes? Ive been using realtor, redfin, and loopnet (as suggested in the beginners guide) and Im having a lot of trouble finding duplexs that aren't in run down city areas. I'd like to stay in my area, but is it possible there just aren't many nearby? I'm not sure if this throws a wrench in my plan or not. Also, I uploaded a picture when I registered but it doesn't seem to have loaded yet! Thanks again!

Hi everyone, my name is Daniel. I'm 22 years old and I just graduated college and now have a full time job which earns me about $60k a year which I hope will be enough to get me started in investing. I have about $20k saved up for a down-payment if necessary, although I've read that I can get an FHA loan that lets me pay only 3.5% down. I still live at home rent free and can continue to do so for another year. I'm currently planning my next step which I was hoping everyone could help me with.

I would like to preface by saying I read the beginners guide and chose my investment strategy. I want to invest in a multi-family home, preferably a duplex to start out with. My goal would be to buy one near where I live currently/near where I work, and live in it while renting the other side out simultaneously. Ideally I would like to get a roommate so I could live rent free. After living here for a while, I would like to move into a single family home while renting out both sides of the duplex. I'm not sure if I could gain enough cash flow from that to pay my mortgage on another home, but I would like to do that if possible.

I am very new to real estate investment, but I'm very motivated, and this is the direction I would like to move in. My hope is that in the future I will own my home completely, as well as a vacation home on a lake, and I would like to do this at a younger age.

Some questions I have are:

1. I really dislike cities which seem to be the areas with an abundance of duplexes, but considering I want to live in the duplex I would prefer to find one outside of the city. Is getting enough rent to generate cash-flow more difficult in non-city areas?

2. When shopping for a multifamily home, what are some questions you ask right away to the seller?

3. What type of qualities in a potential multifamily home get you excited/interested as an investor?

4. What type of expenses do owners typically expect tenants to pay while living there? I've read that they typically pay utilities like heat and garbage, but a lot of people mention that they themselves pay the water bill and sewage bills which can get expensive.

5. I read about the 2% rule, is this realistic? Should I consider a home a bad investment if I cannot achieve at least 2%?

These are just a few questions I have that I can think of right now. As I said, I am a beginner seeking knowledge, and this forum seems to be full of it. Please feel free to shoot me down or correct me anywhere that I may have been out of line. I'm sure my goals will reflect how green I am.

Thank you so much for your time and any help!