Am I better off moving out or not moving out

[Steven Coppola]

Hello BP! I'm 21 years old. You might take this into consideration below....

Say I buy a duplex and house hack. What do you guys think is a better strategy.

1) I move out right now and buy a duplex, and put down 5% because it my first residence. I get to hang onto more cash because I'm only putting 5% down. Say my tenant pays off 50% of the mortgage monthly and I'm paying the other half and not cash flowing but I'm building equity. Or......

2) I keep saving my money with no debt to my name and buy a duplex in 3-5 years with 20% down and have enough cashflow to pay off my monthly mortgage.

What do you guys think is a better strategy?

Thank you

[Theresa Harris]

I would buy it now, but take your time to find something where the numbers work.  If you do it right, your tenant should pay more than 50% of your mortgage plus property taxes, etc.  As you are in Canada and a first time buyer you might qualify for the government incentives.