Considering Renting Out My Personal Residence
Its a basically new (6 months old) townhome, 2/2.5, super nice with lots of upgrades. My mtg. on it is $1200/mo., and I would rent it for 1550/mo.+ utilities. (an identical one nearby rents for that). In the meantime, my wife and I would move into (and work on) a fixer upper. This way we would have a small cash flow (?) from the townhome, and we'd be building equity in the fixer. I have never been a landlord before. Does this sound like a good plan, as I take my first small step forward into REI? Any and all advice is welcome
If you can get a decent renter in it. The worse thing to happen would for you to get a bad tenant that would "tear up" a new townhome. Does the 1200 mortgage include you homeowners assoc dues or maintance dues? How about insurance? You'll have to still carry insurance on the property.
The first step in real estate is the hardest. Good luck.
There's nothing wrong with your plan. It's done all the time. Before you rent, either read a good property management book or pay a professional to handle the property for you. Tenant selection, qualification, and maintenance are primordial.