15 Year or 30 Year Mortgage

[Devin Mills]

I am 24 years old and in contract on my first real estate deal which is a duplex in a B neighborhood where I will be occupying one side and renting the other.  Purchase price of the duplex is $185K and will need roughly 20K in repairs to get rents up to meet the 1% rule.  Anyway,  I am looking to find out whether I should go with a 15 year fixed (3.5%) or 30 year fixed (4.25%) mortgage.  I originally was going to go with the 30 year fixed however seeing all that interest in the first few years of monthly payments is killing me.  Why waste that money toward interest?  Is the fact that interest is tax deductible make this a little less painful and worth it to do a 30 year?  Do the majority of investors go with 15 or 30 year mortgages?  Wondering if most investors invest with 30 year mortgages and leverage their lower payment to buy other deals.  Any advice or experiences would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Devin