I think the most important question here is not whether you get the loan but rather are you prepared for it? This was the biggest problem during the housing bubble of the past 5 years - people were jumping into investments that they were not prepared for. If you buy a rental property and the renters stop paying, will you have enough to cover the mortgage? If the roof suddenly starts leaking, will you be able to fix it out of pocket until the insurance company steps in? If the renters sue you, will you have enough saved up to afford a good attorney? These are all important questions that you MUST be able to answer unequivocally yes before you invest.

If you are in a rural location, there is a national program called RHS (Rural Housing) that offers a 0 down loan for a primary home purchase, if your income is within the qualifying guidelines. Both of you have to qualify for the loan, and with a mid 600's score, you shouldn't have any problem. If you write an offer on a property having the seller pay your closing costs, it's possible to get in with no money out of pocket at all. However, this is a federally funded program, and as such, it's subject to funding issues. They do tend to run out of money and that can leave you in the lurch. Talk to a lender and ask if the program is available and find out if you qualify. However, if you plan on doing this for investment purposes, it won't work. This is ONLY for a primary purchase. I'm a former mortgage broker, so I've done hundreds of these over the years.

The best way to get into a house with no money down is with an "Owner Finance" Otherwise you have risk of being upside down with your mortgage versus rent income.

Whoa, lots of conflicting opinions on this one. All I can come away with is, "Heed the cautions given here and see if you can make it work for you."

Yes you can do it!

One of the ways I have done it before is with JV(joint venture partners).

You need to find partners that are wanting to invest in real estate and have money and good credit.

You find the deals and approach them with the details. You can structure it so you are both on title, however because you aren't bringing a whole lot to the table you might want to offer your JV 75% off the property and you keep 25%.

You could also do some assignments as well. You put together the deal and assign it to someone else and charge a finders fee. This way you can build up some cash.

There are also sandwhich leases which will allow you to get started in the real estate investing world without your money or credit until you can get in a better situation.

Happy Investing

Jen
www.realestatefirsttimers.com

Absolutely you can buy with no money down.. and there's nothing wrong with it AS LONG AS YOU CAN CASH FLOW!! Cannot stress this enough.

Unfortunately you may not be ready to buy your first investment property quiet yet… there are a few key things you may need to do first before you can look to start buying investment property. Debt is going to be one of your biggest hurdles, but as you start to lower your debt you will also need to try to build up your savings. At this time all investment property purchased requires 20% down… so for this reason you may need to think a bit outside the box when aquiring investment property. For example all owner occupied buyers can buy property for as little as 3.5% down. So as you gradually build up saving you could buy your first duplex and live in half of it and rent the other half out. Once you continue to build your savings up you could rent out your side of the duplex and buy your next property! and so on and so forth!

Consider becoming a property manager or maintenance guy in a medium size apartment complex. You will have a place to live and get some 'on the job' training as you learn about rental management. (it ain't just collecting rent checks!)

Later, if you can buy a duplex, triplex... move in to one unit and rent the other(s)... pack away any Net Income over expenses and debt service... make sure you allocate reserve funding for replacement costs (appliances, carpet, roof, etc). The ONLY reason why investors buy income property is for the net cash flow. Increase that net and you've increased the value of your property. NOI x Cap Rate = Value. Increase the Net Operating Income and you've leveraged an increase in the value of your asset. Get the place leased up... looking nice... raise the rents a bit then flip it!

And then go do it again with another property with a few more units!

That's my 2 cents!

I am currently involved in an investment property that is no money down for ME. I belong to a small group of investors that combine the different resources together. My contribution to the group is my credit and willingness to buy properties and take on loans under my name. Others put up their cash. This property is no money down for ME but not for other investors, but they get a healthy 20% returns.

one good way is to find a seller willing to do a short sale because they don't want a foreclosure then market the property as a lease to purchase with say 15% down and if you have good credit you should be able to obtain financing on the short sale with 20% down.

So lets say you have a property worth $100,000 and the bank is willing to sell short for $65,000 you would have to come up with 20% which is $13,000 but you already have a lease purchase buyer with $15,000 to put down.

You make $2000 upfront and positive cash flow monthly, but Fannie Mae will typically only allow 4 investment properties, so don't just jump on the first one you find.

People have already mentioned it, but it's worth mentioning again: all the "no money down" housing loans are a big reason we had the crisis in the first place. People are not able to manage the foreseeable future, and do not plan for it. Something goes NOT according to plan and you find yourself in foreclosure.

in all sincerity, if your work experience is in construction, spending 50+ hours a week in real estate sales probably would not work out for you. it will drive you insane. sales is a far different animal than construction.

In Europe its harder to buy with no money down. In Croatia especially as bank loans are expensive.

I hadn't done one for a while; but I'm working a 100% financing deal right now with a USDA Rural Development Guaranteed Loan.

The Borrower makes nearly $50,000 per year teaching school and has over $400,000 in her 401K . . . . but she's wanting this Zero Down Payment Loan, and it's going to fly.

I thought things like this had dried up; but I was wrong. Not a problem.

Agreed. VA is probably the only way.