rent out your property, good investment?

[madscout]

I'm considering buying a duplex next year in Minneapolis to live in one half and rent out the other half. I am 25 and making a 44k salary. This would be a first time house purchase. My goal would be to live there for ~5 years and then purchase my own home, keeping the duplex as a rental property.

Would this be a good investment? Any one have experience landlording?

Thanks,
mad

[midas]

The fact that you don't know if the purchase is a good investment means you shouldn't do the deal. You need to do your homework and come back with some information - purchase price, loan amount, rental income, costs (maintenance, utilities, taxes, insurance) and most importantly neighborhood analysis and rental market analysis. Then you can "run the numbers" and make an informed investment decision.

BTW, can you handle a gap in rental income for a few months? Sometimes tenants don't renew and you may be vacant for a few months carrying the full cost load of the duplex.

[squiffy]

Need more details.

[CardMinger]

With more details a lot of posters will be able to give you detailed help. Just remember to account for vacancies like the previous poster suggested. I would recommend using a 40-50% vacancy rate when doing your calculations just to be safe.

[KaneKungFu123]

everyone and their mother wants to own a house and rent it out.

[TStoneMBD]

[ QUOTE ]
The fact that you don't know if the purchase is a good investment means you shouldn't do the deal. You need to do your homework and come back with some information - purchase price, loan amount, rental income, costs (maintenance, utilities, taxes, insurance) and most importantly neighborhood analysis and rental market analysis. Then you can "run the numbers" and make an informed investment decision.

BTW, can you handle a gap in rental income for a few months? Sometimes tenants don't renew and you may be vacant for a few months carrying the full cost load of the duplex.

[/ QUOTE ]

well put.

[madscout]

Yes, obviously have some homework to do. I have 12 months to do a lot of research on the matter, and I will definitely post here again once I have more details. Thanks.

~madscout

[madscout]

One detail I should add is that the duplex will probably be in the University of MN area, where the housing turnover is very fast due to incoming/exiting students.

[Sniper]

DO you really want to be a landlord to a continually changing series of students every year?