New here, seeking advice!

[Andrew Sweeney]

Hello, I'm just starting my journey into real estate investing, my current deadline for myself to actually start is next year so I'm trying to cram as much information as I possibly can. 

One thing I cannot find though is how to turn a profit on renting real estate with a mortgage using a 20-25% down payment. I've been playing around on Mashvisor, using their calculator I can't seem to find a way to bring in monthly profits on a mortgaged rental property. 

so I guess my question is, what's better? Buying with straight cash or using a lender? If using a lender how do you turn a profit? Is it a matter of negotiating prices or interest rates? Any information is greatly appreciated. 

[Brian Adzadi]

@Andrew Sweeney

The first question and I think the most important question I need to ask you is where are the houses that you are using to do your calculations located?

If they are in your home states of Cali. Then uh yea, makes sense why you are not seeing profits on mortgaged rental properties. Your housing market is insanely high and so are your property taxes. How can any Joe Schmoe investor be able to turn profit with such a competitive market.

My second question will then be, Have you tried out of state rental properties? If you did, you will quickly realize how much more profitable out of state investments are.

It would be nice to buy rental property straight cash but then you are tying up all your capital into one property. If you leverage it, you can have multiple cash-flowing properties.