Hi all, I’m 29 and evaluating my first multi-unit property purchase. I want to be aggressive and go straight for a quadplex. For context, I’m trying to rebuild after a horrible $100k+ loss in the stock market in 2025. Here’s my current financial situation:
Income
• Base W-2: $90k/year
• Average overtime (last 2 years): $50k/year
• 2-year average income: $140k/year
• So far in 2026 i’m working 78 hour weeks to bring home $7800 net biweekly. This is temporary but I will continue until I apply for mortgage (June)
Assets
• House fund (Robinhood brokerage account @3.75%): $30k projected by June
• Checking account: 12k
• Roth IRA: $7k
• 457b retirement: $25k
• Paid off vehicle ($35k) by June
Total liquid cash for down payment/reserves by June: around 40k
Debts
• Car loan: planning to pay off in march before applying in June→ currently $28k @8%
• No other debt (credit cards paid in full monthly, \~$2600/month in bills including rent)
Plan
• Target property: 4-unit quadplex, asking $600k
• Loan type: FHA 3.5% down, owner-occupied
• Pay off car in March
• Save up house fund + checking → June pre-approval. I will be debt free at this point.
• Shop, make offer, close late summer / early fall
• Plan to live in one unit, rent out the other 3 units
• Potential future STR/short-term rentals for extra cash flow
– Does my income, cash, and debt situation make me a strong candidate for FHA pre-approval on this $600k quadplex?
– Is my plan too aggressive for a first multi-unit purchase?
– Any advice on timing, cash reserves, or lender expectations I should be aware of?
29y/o need advice on purchasing my first property.
byu/topG69__ inpersonalfinance
Posted by topG69__
4 Comments
How did you lose money in the stock market? Were you trading options?
IMO, you need to sort out your fundamentals like a proper efund and retirement contributions before jumping into being a landlord. There are no shortcuts in life, especially when it comes to money.
I agree. It does not sound like they are remotely ready to invest in something as massive as a rental property. For an investment property to be profitable and not just a money pit, they would need a LOT more than 30k down.
Just for the fun of it, spend a little time listening to [this podcast](https://www.ramseysolutions.com/shows/the-ramsey-show). Listen long enough to get to an episode where he explains how he went broke. You can do what you want from there (heck, you can even skip my advice and not listen at all), but a little perspective will make you a lot more confident and realistic in your expectations
Don’t try to ‘double down’ a loss with a bigger gamble. It is a slippery slope downhill.
Rebuild some financial stability and most importantly have a serious financial reserve before investing in real estate.
>Is my plan too aggressive for a first multi-unit purchase?
It’s more aggressive than I would be.
On 140k/yr, I don’t think that buying a quadplex for 600k would be an inherently unreasonable or unaffordable decision. You could likely cover the entire monthly mortgage payment yourself if needed, so you wouldn’t be in a panic to find renters. I think 3.5% or 5% down is fine as well.
I would have two big concerns.
My big concern is having no cash cushion after you buy. Between downpayment and closing costs, you’ll be in a rough spot. If anything goes wrong before you have renters, you’ll be in a really rough situation. With one unit, things will go wrong sooner or later, but you probably have some time. With four, things will go wrong four times as often.
I would want at least a 6 month emergency fund after buying, but if you’re comfortable with 3-4 months I don’t think that would be crazy. I would not want to buy and have under 3 months of emergency fund remaining.
My other concern is… why are you aiming to buy this property?
To be clear, I’m not against rental properties, and I think buying a multifamily and living in one unit is generally the best approach to get into being a landlord. But between working a lot of overtime and having lost significant funds in the stock market, I worry that you’re looking for “passive income” or somesuch.
Being a landlord can absolutely generate significant income. I promise you, it will not be passive. You will need to find tenants, collect and track payments, fix issues in each unit as they arise (or pay someone else to, eating into your profits), etc. Anyone who’s ever owned property will tell you: your house wants to return to the dirt as quickly as it can. Things break. Appliances need replacing. Being a landlord adds an extra layer of complication: tenants get laid off, or leave and need replacing, or have disputes with each other, etc.
I worry about the time it would take to manage three units while also working significant overtime. Even if the goal is to back down overtime eventually, it likely won’t be instantly possible. Especially if you buy without a fully funded emergency fund in reserve.
If you’re someone who loves being handy/doing repairs/construction type stuff, amazing! That would make me a lot more enthusiastic about this for you.
If you are looking for passive income, I *strongly* recommend reading “The Simple Path to Wealth,” by JL Collins. It will not talk much about real estate, but this book is the best I’ve found at explaining how to actually win with the stock market.
Regardless of what you decide to do, good luck!