Louisville, KY · Member since 2014 · 60 posts · 3 votes
I've been doing a ton of research in getting rental property. I believe it's the route I will take. Can you all answer a question though: say I have my 1st property (SFR purchased through a HELOC) and I'm profiting $200-$300/month. Then what? Do I start paying off the HELOC? Do I look for the next property? What are my options? Then when you have a few properties what are the best strategies to pay those homes off in the case of financing? Debt Snowball?
A lot will depend on what your plans are. It might be good to hold for a while and build up cash until you decide what you want to do. You may find you don't like being a landlord in which case you can sell and move on with your life or go into some other part of real estate investing.
I waiting two years with my first two rentals before expanding last year. I am at five now and I am using the cash flow after expenses and reserves to purchase more properties because I plan to get at least 15-20 total. At that point I will probably start paying off any I have loans on.
Very first thing I would do is gather 6 months cash reserves to set aside for vacancies and repairs. Everything else is a personal preference, depending on your goals and the level of risk you are comfortable with. You will get many different opinions. Congrats on taking the first step...joining BP!