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Updated over 8 years ago on . Most recent reply

User Stats

61
Posts
5
Votes
Rick Alvi
  • Investor
  • houston, TX
5
Votes |
61
Posts

Buy Primary Residence or investment real estate first?

Rick Alvi
  • Investor
  • houston, TX
Posted

Hello,

I'm a full time professional musician, I'm blessed to be able to do this for a living. But this career won't last forever and neither will my youth. I'm 29 and I'm saving every extra dime to invest in future assets so that I can one day develop a passive income stream which will help me as an artist to maintain the lifestyle I want to continue pursuing. I live in a hot market, Houston TX to be exact. I currently rent a 1bd apartment for $780 a month. I have 15-20k to invest and I'm not sure if I should buy a primary residence first (5% down due to my excellent credit) or if I should buy an investment property instead. My goal is to create passive income streams through real estate. I'm not sure if I should look in my hot market or if I should invest out of state. I hear that if I'm not owner occupying I'll have to come up with 20% down.Do you recommend I buy a SFH and rent it out first? Or buy myself a primary residence at 5% down (fix it up a bit) and then rent it out in a few years? Should I start investing now, while living in an apartment instead? I suppose I could house-hack and buy a multifamily unit, but I'll probably need a property manager to help me the first year to learn the ropes. I also don't know if I can afford much in my current market area. There are single family homes 3bd 2bth that go for 95-115k but a lot of the multi-families cost a lot more. 

Most Popular Reply

User Stats

36
Posts
22
Votes
Donald Dickerson
  • Investor
  • Houston, TX
22
Votes |
36
Posts
Donald Dickerson
  • Investor
  • Houston, TX
Replied

Do both! House Hacking would be perfect for you!

IOW, buy a duplex, triplex or 4 unit and live in one of the units and rent the other units. 

The other units will pay your mortgage so you can spend your money on more important things like musical instruments and accessories. 

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