| Ive been buying near the greater Syracuse area. I have a couple now, and so far I've been lucky to get financing from family members. The plan is to refinance the loans with the bank after the first year or two and re-use the money for new purchases. When we run out of private money we'll go to the banks. We've applied already for the houses we've gotten because we didnt know we would be able to secure private money. I saw downpayment amounts varying from 20-25% for personal loans and 25-30% for business loans (if you're buying with an LLC). With the interest rates the banks charge its still doable in our area, the private money interest rates are higher in at least one case and both are 15yrs (vs the 30yr we would want to go for with the bank). Iirc you can get up to 10 personal mortgages in your name before needing to resort to small business loans, so if you're just starting off, you've got room to grow. If you are starting off and live in the town you will be investing in, I highly read up on house hacking, which there are a few articles on the topic at biggerpockets.com (this was a great source of info when I was starting off, I recommend most of their books too). edit: Also note that downpayment requirements vary by location, and if banks offer it, its much better to go for their portfolio of loans if they offer fixed rates (unfortunately, all the banks in my area only offer ARM loans) because the closing costs are lower (portfolio loans are not sold to the big banks, so the closing cost fees are not dictated by them). |