First Investment

[Alex T.]

I'm trying to take advantage of the tax credit to buy my first house, I was hoping to buy a duplex-type property so I can use it to leverage later investments. The area I'm in doesn't have many duplexes, but I managed to find a few. I'm worried, however, whether I'd end up saving more by living in an apartment for a few years than a house with property taxes and utilities, even after I get tenant's rent. The property taxes here are 4%, which is another thing that scares me.

But basically my main question is this: I found a duplex in this neighborhood that appreciates well and has high value (costs $225,000 and has 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom units). I also found a quad-plex about 10 miles from here in an area that has significantly lower value and appreciation rate ($250,000 and has 4 1-bedroom units). The duplex units seems to have been rented for $1100 -which seems low to me for this area, I have no data on the quadplex but was told that 1-bedroom units are harder to rent. Can you guys provide some advice, thanks.