in the Salt Lake city Utah area single family or duplex?

[Allan Anderton]

looking for advice on the experts out there:) if some of you have time to respond I thank you in advance I would like a PRO vs con stand point on which would you feel to be a safer first rental investment property single family house or a duplex? me personally I don't feel to much of a difference on building structure 1 roof x amount of walls just seems bigger space obviously 2 tenants on a duplex = more calls and issues via them as well as double the appliances to maintain  but also double the rent just wanted to pick a few brains and see what people that have walked the walk so to speak feel about it:) thanks in advance

[Becca Summers]

@Allan Anderton you could by a 4 plex with Mountain America's 10% down investor loan.  The interest rate is higher but if the numbers work it's awesome. No mortgage insurance either. 

I want to give you a different opinion. I personally love investing in single family. My reasons: I find them easier to manage. My cash flow is great per door. There are no tenant to tenant issues and my favorite the appreciation and exit strategies are endless. 

If you get in and find you hate real estate investing it's easier to get out. Selling to a retail buyer, flipper, investor or flip it yourself after your renter trashes it. Selling a multi-family is not to hard as a duplex honesty in Utah so many duplexes sell almost if they are a retail purchase because many "investors" buy them where they move in. They are looking for the second unit of offsetting their mortgage not necessarily cash flow if both units are rented which is a problem I see over and over when they come up for sale. 

The biggest downfalls of single family investing. You can only have 10 with normal loans, You have 10 roofs, ten HVAC ect. Also mentioned above having a renter moves it's 100% vacant. Single-family vacancy in Utah is under 3% and every time I have a unit come up I have a great pool of applicants. Anytime it's vacant for me is lack of planning on my part not being able to find a good renter. 

If you have a small cash reserve single family is a good way to get your toes wet.