Philadelphia First Time Homebuyer

[Matt Burns]

-- Contemplating becoming a first time home buyer in summer 2017. I am 22 and have around $10,000 saved. Looking for 2 bed, 1 bath or 3 bed, 1 or 2 bath. -- my plan is to live in the house for the first few years and fix it up. The other rooms will be rented out to some friends of mine. After that I would like to keep the property and rent it out. Is this a good plan? -- one of my future roommates is all for me buying a house and said he can pay 1 year rent up front if I need some more cash for a down payment or closing costs. -- looking for some places that could be gentrified in the next 5-7 years (west/olde Kensington, point breeze??). Max price I'm looking at is $200,000. -- I have a few credit cards, a good score, and no debt. Graduated college and have no student loans. Also own a car that is fully paid off. -- Any advice/pointers on what I can do?

[Thoai Han]

I would recommend a 3 bedroom home just for a little extra cash a month. We are young so that would be the perfect plan to get started. Although appreciation is nice, IT MUST CASH FLOW POSITIVE! You are on the right track. Chose an area and check out the average rental rate per room, calculate that into your cash flow and expenses to see if it makes sense to buy the property. 
 
OR

You can buy a lower class property, renovate it and get it approved for section 8. That cash flow would be 100% yours minus insurance and taxes.