Interested in investing your money in a multifamily property? You might be wondering, “Can I buy a two, three, or even four-family building with limited funds?” Fortunately, the answer is yes, though it will take some work on your part. But before we get to that, let’s first look into the multifamily model.
Multifamily investments involve buying a duplex, triplex, fourplex, apartment building, or condo building and renting these multiple units, sometimes referred to as ‘doors’. Multifamily investing offers the possibility of generating a large burst of cash flow and net operating income from one building and roof. For this reason, multifamily property investment is often viewed as the first step of moving into larger, higher-yielding deals and thus, a popular investment channel for Real Estate investors.
If you’re thinking about buying a multifamily property and prefer not to go it alone, you’re in good company as the services of an able coach can help increase your likelihood of success. At MY SMART COUSIN, we work hand-in-hand with clients to find and evaluate lucrative multifamily investment opportunities, with our specialty being finding houses that you can buy for the price of a car. As a seasoned Real Estate Investor and Investment Coach, we help Black and Brown folks and women create wealth and scale their businesses.
In this blog post, we’ll discuss the benefits of a multifamily portfolio, and look at options you can use to buy multifamily when your funds are on a diet shall we say, and seed capital is limited. If this scenario sounds like you, read on to learn more!
THE MANY BENEFITS OF MULTIFAMILY PROPERTIES
A Quick Way to Scale Your Portfolio: One of the biggest benefits of buying multifamily properties is that it allows you to increase the number of units that you own quickly, and often, at a lower cost per unit than buying each unit as a single-family property. A larger number of units allows you to spread fixed costs such as bookkeeping, legal fees, and marketing over a much bigger base. Additionally, the amount of time required to grow a portfolio from one unit to ten units is significantly more when growing through only single families versus multifamilies.
Diversification of Risk: Another benefit of multifamily properties is that they can lessen the cash flow risk of your portfolio. As an example, if you own and rent out a single-family home when the home is vacant, it is 100% vacant, unless you are renting out a room or other area of the house on a short-term basis. The all-or-nothing risk to cash flow that comes from single-family properties can cause owners to face financial hardships when their unit is vacant for an extended period. Multifamily properties, on the other hand, have multiple units, which decreases the risk that every unit will be vacant at the same time. As such, there’s a much higher possibility that there will be positive cash flow at some point of every month for multifamily, particularly if the multifamily has five or more units. This risk diversification can help in ensuring that the loan used to buy the property can be serviced without interruption
Economies of Scale: In much the same way that buying groceries at a wholesale store can lower the per-unit cost of each item, likewise a large multifamily property can increase your buying power and lower the per-unit cost of management and maintenance items. Property managers, as an example, will be more likely to offer you a discount if they are managing 20 of your units, all under one roof, than 20 separate single-family homes. Twenty apartments in one building mean that a dedicated leasing agent and handyman can be tasked with working at one location rather than traveling among multiple properties and learning the peculiarities of each. Likewise, electricians, plumbers, and other contractors may offer more competitive pricing for the security of having one large apartment building account versus multiple small accounts.
So now that we have a sense of some of the benefits that a multifamily property offers, let’s dive into exactly how we can go about buying one on limited funds
· AN EQUITY SHARE INVESTOR: THE KEY TO SUCCESS
An equity share investor is someone who takes an equity interest in your property in exchange for funding a percentage of the acquisition costs and major repairs. As an example, if you strike a deal with an equity share investor to invest 30% of the costs to buy a $200,000 triplex, or $60,000, then the equity investor would be entitled to 30% of the rent on the triplex. In this regard, shared equity arrangements are like partnerships. One difference, however, is that shared equity agreements often have a limited time period, for instance, five years, after which the equity share investor will look to have their percentage interest purchased by the owner, at the presumably higher market value of the property in year five. Because shared equity investors own a percentage of the equity in your property and are recorded as owners on the deed and in tax records, it will be critical to work with an experienced attorney to document this transaction properly.
· GET A LOAN FROM A FAMILY MEMBER OR FRIEND – A PRIVATE MONEY LOAN
Private money lenders are lenders who are private individuals. As such, a private money lender can include your family member or a friend. If you lack the funds for a multifamily property and share common business values with a friend or family member, then you may want to explore having them serve as an official lender for your project. A private money loan with a close family should be treated just as seriously as it would be with a third-party lender: credit checks should be performed, and loan documentation and a payment schedule should be developed. The benefit of working with a friend is having a built-in sounding board to discuss issues or opportunities.
· CONSIDER BUYING A MULTIFAMILY PROPERTY THAT YOU WILL LIVE IN
One of the easiest ways to enter the multifamily property market is through buying a home that qualifies for FHA lending. Small multifamilies— two, three, or family— are eligible for FHA loan financing under certain conditions. The biggest requirement is that the property serves as your primary residence, as FHA’s focus is owner-occupied properties. If your FICO score is 580 or higher, you might also be eligible for a down payment of three percent.
· BORROWING MONEY FROM HARD MONEY LENDERS
Hard money lenders are another viable source of financing for purchasing a multifamily property. An advantage of hard money lenders is that they don’t focus on your credit history, instead, they limit their due diligence to the property itself and whether it can repay the loan. Hard money loans tend to have higher fees and interest rates than traditional loans, but the loan documentation is often lighter, and the closing schedule is only a few weeks.
SUMMING IT UP
If you’re considering a multifamily investment, such properties offer several benefits in terms of allowing you to grow your portfolio quickly and lowering the effective cost and risk of each unit. Likewise, multiple opportunities exist for investing with limited funds, from house hacking your way into a fourplex, for instance, through an FHA loan, to sharing the equity or obtaining a loan from third-party professionals or family members. Just remember that any of these methods will require homework on your part to find a business partner or lender who fits with your real estate investment values and strategy.
Have you tried any of these methods? Let us know, we’d love to hear from you.
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