All Forum Posts by: Andrew Syrios

Depending on where you live, what you may be looking for is a house with an ADU (accessory dwelling unit). Lots of higher cost cities have really pushed to create those to increase the amount of housing available. It's usually something like a 2 bed, 1 bath apartment attached (basement, attic, attached like a duplex or even just a small house on same lot as another house) with a home that's something like a 3 bed, 2 bath. That would certainly ease up on the cost of the mortgage for the time being and help with cash flow a lot when you move out to the next property and keep that one as a rental.

Welcome aboard Brenainn!

A mortgage (with taxes and insurance, etc.) will likely be more expensive than rent and, of course, be a debt, so that will effect the debt to income analysis a bank does and may make it harder to buy a rental property. But, buying a home to live in can be one of the best ways to get started as an investor. The rates you get are so much better than investor loans. So, if you live there for a while and then keep it as a rental when you move on to the next property instead of selling it (which means you'll probably need to settle for a house that's a bit less expensive), you can get much better financing on both. 

And, as Steven said, you can buy a small multifamily as a place to live. FHA will lend up to a fourplex, so you can live in one unit and rent out the others. That's the best way to get started as an investor IMO.

Welcome Shamar and best of luck!

I wouldn't sell unless you had something better to do with the money. With inflation the way it is, now's not a good time to hold cash plus you'll have a big tax hit unless you 1031 the gains into another property. If you want to pull some equity out, it might be worth refinancing. Rates have gone up recently but are still low by historical standards and, in my judgement, will likely keep going up for the forseeable future.

Congrats Jonathan!

HVAC is sort of a must have, but it's not generally a value add unless you are going from say window units to central AC. Same for roof. A buyer might hit you down a bit on an old roof, but it's unlikely to be for as much as replacing it. Kitchens and baths are what really sell houses and probably add the most value as long as you are upgrading them to the quality of the area. If you put granite countertops, Brazilian hardwoods, expensive chandeliers and top-of-the-line stainless steel appliances in a C rental; it will rent quick for sure, but you'll never get your investment back out of it.

Welcome aboard Deborah!

It depends on how much business you get. A real estate agent can make millions a year or nothing at all. 

Welcome aboard Alex!