All Forum Posts by: Yixue Zhao

Hello everyone! Newbie here, trying to buy my very first property as owner-occupied and I'm very excited! I have a few questions that I want to get some advice from the pros in our lovely community ^^

Background:

I'm renting currently due to a temporary job. I've noticed the rental market is very strong in my area and wanted to buy an owner-occupied property to live in for a year, and rent it out later when I move out of state. I can either do a single-family, or house hack a multi-family (although we have very few options available for multi-family unfortunately). I have locked in an interest rate at 3.625%, which seems very competitive so I wanted to go with this specific lender. However, for this lender, I'll have to put 15% down for duplex, and 20% down for triplex or fourplex. For single-family, I can just put 5% down. I don't have 15% or 20% down payment as cash, but I'm able to raise money from family and friends who can lend me the money immediately when I need it. (I'm transitioning to a job with higher pay and paying off the money I borrowed from family/friends wouldn't be an issue)

Questions:

1. Is it always better to put the lowest down payment possible? I wonder if I should just narrow it down to single family (only 5% down required) and we have way more options in single family than multi-family. With little down payment, I will also have the cash needed for renovation and potentially converting a single-family to a duplex. But with multi-family, I can house hack immediately.

2. If I do single family and want to convert it to duplex, what are the factors I should consider to see if it's worth converting when buying? I read some articles online but they don't dive very deep. Like I need to make sure the zoning allows etc. Of course, I'll make sure it's legal to convert, but I'm more interested in the economical side of things, e.g., how to do the math to figure out if it's a good idea to convert or not? And how do I know if the layout/architecture would make sense for converting?

3. Any advice on finding a good closing attorney and insurance company? Or the difference would be little so it doesn't matter that much? (I hear people talking about finding good property managers a lot more, so maybe attorney and insurance aren't that important?)

4. Starting from home inspection, I think I should keep track of all my expenses/incomes for the property. Do you recommend QuickBooks for beginners? I'll only have 1 property so I'm not sure if I need to use a paid software or CPA. But I also don't know what's ahead of me so it can get tricky if I just go with Excel sheets... Any suggestions for bookkeeping on a small scale?

Thank you so much in advance!

Hello, I'm just starting out and I read that we should have a separate account for our real estate empire, which makes a lot of sense. I don't have an LLC and I'm wondering what (personal) account do people usually use for this purpose? A regular checking or saving account doesn't seem good to me, as this account can potentially have tons of money (my savings for the down payment, rental/flipping income, etc). I'm a huge believer in investing, so having tons of money sitting there with a super-low interest rate doesn't make sense to me. Is there any investing account that can serve this purpose where the money can be invested with better interests than banks, but very low risk? (I don't have LLC for now)

Thank you so much for your advice!

Hello everyone! I was just about to place my very first offer on a single family! But the house comes with a septic system that I never dealt with before. I read some articles online and it seems there's a lot to keep in mind in order to avoid big costly surprises (e.g., hygiene products, paint, grease and oil, hair, dental floss – all of these can cause clogs and prevent drainage).

I'll be living there myself first for only a year and will rent it out afterward. I'm a bit worried that the tenants wouldn't care that much (like to avoid draining grease and oil, which is pretty typical when cooking). Is this a big concern? What are the pros and cons for buying a rental property with a private septic system? Are there any things to watch out for?

Thank you very much! I really appreciate your valuable advice :)

Wow thank you everyone for the insightful reply! This is very helpful! :)

I toured the house and this one actually has some issues that I don't feel very comfortable tackling since this would be my very first property. The floor is sloping (sinking down in the middle of the house) and you can see a big gap around the door. I'm not a fan of the structure as well and converting it will need some extra money and time than I originally planned. Will keep looking! And indeed, many houses in New England area are old and now I'm not afraid! Just need to see if I'm willing to deal with the issues and whether the numbers would work after factoring in the repairs.

Hello friends! I'm new to real estate investing and this is my first post :) Like many of you, I got inspired after reading Rich Dad Poor Dad and then started reading real estate books recently and I'm ready to make a move now yay! I just started looking for my first deal where I plan to live with my husband first, and then rent it out after a year or so.

I live in Northampton, MA and there are not many available listings currently. But I came across a cute house that's built in 1830 (almost 200 years old!) Well, I personally love antiques but from Brandon's book, I also learned that old homes are usually more costly and risky (e.g., more repairs, high utility bills since it's not energy efficient, some unforeseen problems). There are also many other potential pitfalls that I saw on YouTube videos. As a newbie, I'm not sure whether it's too risky to buy such an old house as my very first property (but people also learn a lot from the mistakes in their first deal so maybe it's fine? lol). Anyway, just wondering what's your thoughts on this and what are some factors I should consider in this particular case to make my final decision?

Thank you very much! I really appreciate some guidance to help me join this exciting journey with you all :)