Thinking of Buying? Learn from Tri-Cities Loan Officer Josue Arteaga 

Often when faced with challenges that are far too close to home, we tend to become more reactive rather than proactive. Josue Arteaga proved to be different. Burdened by a family struggle with his parent’s bad mortgage loan from twenty years ago, he sought for a way to help them out. Figuring that the best method was buying their house from them, he met with a loan officer who ended up being a multi-millionaire. A detail that both fascinated and encouraged Josue into getting into the lending industry as well as learning more about real estate investing.

He came from a poor family of immigrants and at one point they were going to lose their house – the one asset their family had. So though real estate was not something that Josue was interested in, he stepped up to solve his family’s mortgage problem; an arm loan with high interest. It was then he learned that his parents’ investment of $80,000 twenty years ago was now worth $300,000. With that much return, they could start their dream restaurant, invest in more real estate and basically turn that $300k into a million. This is a realization he would like to share to others, “You could do everything wrong for twenty years. Cash in on your home’s equity and start all over again but with experience and capital.” With that said, Josue is a supporter of owning versus renting. For him, rent is 100% interest money that you will never see back and the bigger picture of being able to invest your home’s equity into stocks as well as calling your house your own far outweighs the temporary solution that renting may provide for a period in someone’s life. 

Truly, the idea of investing in your first property is daunting but Josue gave out some tips to help first-time homebuyers get started.

First, “Pick one thing.” Figure out if you want a house to Airbnb, to simply live in, or a fixer-upper, then pick one. Remember, you will never get the best of all worlds.

Second, “Rinse and repeat.” Buy a house, live in it for a year so you can save up and look for a new property to invest in. Leave the old one as a rental. He added that “Buying the first house is always the hardest. After that, it’s a snowball effect.” 

Third, when getting a loan, find the best lender who will educate you rather than someone who’s just out to sell you a loan. When you are better educated, you can make decisions with more confidence and certainty. The best thing then is to focus on finding a loan officer who’s knowledgeable and someone who wants to help you. Josue Arteaga is a mortgage lender and can help if you reach out to him here. 

As a bonus, Josue also gave these industry insider tips to help you on your journey to real estate investing success. Avoid any lender who doesn’t want to get to know your story. Choose someone who makes it their priority to understand your situation otherwise, it will only be a waste of your time and opportunity. Then once your are ready to take out a loan, remember that every situation is different. Interest matters if it’s your forever home, but you could always buy down your rate as you refinance. Take it from someone who stepped up and turned a struggle into a success story.