I am contemplating renting my house and buying another one, has anyone ever done this?

Question

I'm wondering if this is a wise investment. I'm looking for long term and not a quick gain. If anyone has ever rented a HOUSE, then please let me know the pros and cons that you experienced.

Answer 1

Yes, I have a friend who does this. He rents out one house, then uses the rent money to pay the mortgage on another house. I'm thinking he's a millionaire now.

Answer 2

There are several pro's and cons in renting a house. You just have to ask yourself if you want to be a landlord. That means you will have to pay for all the things that go wrong with the house while someone else is living there. There is also the possiblity of deadbeat tennants who trash your place and don't pay rent. On the good side if you do find a good tennant you will have monthly cashflow that will cover that mortgage payment plus put some extra money in your pocket. I used this extra money to save up and buy another property to rent out. It gets addictive. Like I said their are several pro's and con's. But if you do your research and find a great tennant I don't see how you couldn't be successful at it.

Answer 3

Several factors enter into the question of whether or not to rent. Starter homes make excellent rentals, upscale homes do not. What is the equity position in the home? If you have to pay 2 or 3 months expenses between renters will it cramp your lifestyle. Will you manage collecting the rent or have it done professionally? Can you be confrontational when needed or a softy who will have people mooching off you because you feel sorry for them or fall for their sob story. With the surplus of foreclosure property across the nation can you rent cheaply enough to meet your expenses and liquidate your mortgage over time while competeing with the houses being bought at foreclose at half cost offer lower than average rents? It is a good time to buy foreclosures and rent them, unless your home is a very basic starter home with equity it is a poor gamble in todays market.

Answer 4

Yes. I purchased a new home in March. I had my former home on the market since December with no offers, so we listed it for rent as well as sale in August. I also posted it on Craigslist, and I got a lot of calls from that, more than my realtor, actually. My realtor ended up renting it for me at the end of September. So far, so good. We lived in the house for 12 years, so our cash flow is actually $300 a month more than our mortgage payment and taxes, but since we don't have the equity from the house, we have a second mortgage on our new house, which is $900 a month, so we still have an extra outlay every month. The people will not be staying forever as their home had a fire, but we're thinking we may keep it as a rental rather than selling it.

Good luck. I think your experience will depend on the quality of your tenants.

Answer 5

I've done it many times. I've had as many as 6 properties rented out that I used to live in. Get a property manager to handle your affairs for you. I'll never try to manage it myself again.