Starting out decisions without a ton of money

[Michael Ashe]

2nd time in the forum asking a "Get Started" question.

My girlfriend and I (soon to be married) own our current home and are 3 years into our 30 year on a 3.75% rate. Between appreciation and our payments we have 50K-75k in equity. 

I'm debating how we want to approach a 2nd property for either long term rental or short term vacation rental. If we were to turn our current home into a long term rental based on comps we would be in the positive around $700-$900 a month. Is there a benefit to purchasing a property specifically for rental purposes versus purchasing it as your new home and converting your current account into a rental?

[Travis Timmons]

Slow and steady wins the race. I'd vote for moving out of and renting your current house, getting another 5% down conventional loan, and then start saving up for the 3rd one. It's a whole lot easier to pile up 5% than to do 20% on an investment loan. If you want to go crazy, try to find a duplex for the next one, so then you have 2 rental units (current home and the other side of the duplex). 

Rinse and repeat until your soon to be wife tells you that she can't take it anymore. And by the way, if you own property together, you're already married. If it takes an attorney to break up, you're married.