I really want to get into buying properties, but I'm scared

[Anonymous]

OP, I was widowed with small kids at 31 and have invested in a duplex and a SFH in my town. I also own a small commercial property that I run a small business from, and pay rent to my LLC.

Women can absolutely own rentals! What a misconception to think otherwise. I would check out biggerpockets.com and do as much research and talking to landlords as you can. Like everything, there are pros and cons. It doesn't hurt to look at some properties for sale and get an idea of rents, possible maintenance concerns and so forth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is not the time to get into real estate

++. I own one investment property that is worth 2.5 times what I paid for it and the mortgage is 3%. No way would it make sense to buy now with interest rates. Do you want to buy from me? Lol

[Anonymous]

Didn’tlots of tenants get to live rent free during the first year of COVID? It happened and the landlords got nothing and could not evict. It was an entitlement.

[Anonymous]

I have owned a couple of investment properties. I quickly found out I was not landlord material when COVID hit and my tenant stopped paying rent. Took me over a year to get him out. That was a year without rental income. Luckily we were able to pay the mortgage. And hopefully, that doesn't happen again for a long time.

I had to put 30% down for a mortgage on an investment property. I am not sure if they all require that.

You want to make sure that you have a wide enough spread between the rent and the carrying costs.

My first property I rented on my own, but when the first tenant moved out, I went with a rental agency to do all the leg work. They took the first month of the lease and then a small percentage each month. It was worth it but it eats into your profit. If you look at it as a long term investment, the mortgage will be paid off by the time you retire and then all the money will be profit.

Good luck with your decision.

[Anonymous]

Ugh. There is no bigger hell than being a landlord.
Do you recall the last year when tenants weren't required to pay rent? Who carried that mortgage?
Do you have enough for repairs, large repairs? Or the midnight call to the plumber?
Or when you tenant just refuses to pay? Have you looked into the attorney fees and time it takes to evict someone?

[Anonymous]

Buy a 3 or 4 unit property and make one of the units your primary residence. This is the best way to get landlord experience. 2-4 unit properties qualify for conventional mortgage rates as long as you live in one of the units.

Rinse/repeat a few times over the next 5-10 years. You can keep adding buildings to your portfolio and qualify for conventional financing as long as you live in it when you buy it.

Get really good contractors/handymen who do honest work. Upgrade the units in between tenants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Buy a 3 or 4 unit property and make one of the units your primary residence. This is the best way to get landlord experience. 2-4 unit properties qualify for conventional mortgage rates as long as you live in one of the units.

Rinse/repeat a few times over the next 5-10 years. You can keep adding buildings to your portfolio and qualify for conventional financing as long as you live in it when you buy it.

Get really good contractors/handymen who do honest work. Upgrade the units in between tenants.

Invest hundreds of thousands of dollars and bust your ass maintaining the properties for the next 20 years. Don't expect to make any money until you sell. In fact you will likely be losing money everything month, mostly due to taxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Buy a 3 or 4 unit property and make one of the units your primary residence. This is the best way to get landlord experience. 2-4 unit properties qualify for conventional mortgage rates as long as you live in one of the units.

Rinse/repeat a few times over the next 5-10 years. You can keep adding buildings to your portfolio and qualify for conventional financing as long as you live in it when you buy it.

Get really good contractors/handymen who do honest work. Upgrade the units in between tenants.

Invest hundreds of thousands of dollars and bust your ass maintaining the properties for the next 20 years. Don't expect to make any money until you sell. In fact you will likely be losing money everything month, mostly due to taxes.

We have a two unit property, live in the main top duplex. The rental unit is amazing - all tax free due to deductions and paper losses I can carry forward into future years. The rental unit share of property taxes evades the SALT cap.

Cuts my out of pocket housing expenses by 50% each month. And we are in a great area with good schools.