For most new investors, buying an apartment building might seem like a daunting task that's too difficult or expensive to achieve. I used to think that myself, until I closed on my first 12 unit apartment building, and realized that the whole process isn't that much different than the process I'd already learned to buy a smaller rental property. The biggest benefit is the scale - with one purchase I was able to double my portfolio, while buying an asset with many tenants to mitigate the risk of a few vacant units hurting my cash flow.

While the barrier to entry may seem high, as some apartment complexes do require down payments of $100,000 or more, not all apartments are that expensive. There are also some creative financing options that we'll discuss that let you purchase an apartment with a down payment that's far less than you might have thought was possible. In some cases you can actually buy with no money down.