Primary Residence or Investment Property (or both)

[David Macias]

Hi,

My wife and I are really eager to get more involved in real estate and will have 100K to utilize in the next 30 days or so.  I am in the military on my last tour (4 years) and will be doing my final move to North Carolina soon before retiring in Alabama. However, my wife is eager to move back home to Alabama in order to  eventually become a broker.  Should we:

A) Invest in our eventual home (VA or Conventional loan) in Mobile, Alabama. She would move there so she can work towards her career goals. Use the rest of the money to purchase a property and house hack in North Carolina while I am stationed there.

B) Move to NC together and basically do the same, purchase our home, and purchase a rental property. She would practice real estate in NC. When we move, both properties would become rentals.

C) Use the money strictly for investment properties and live on base or rent (utilizing our BAH to pay for our housing).

D) None of the above... 

Lots of decisions to make and we keep going back and forth on them. Any insight from more seasoned gurus would be much appreciated. We have excellent credit and own a long term rental in California with about 175K in equity also. we also have 3 kids that will be in HS by the time I retire. Thanks!

[Chad W.]

David,

There is much more here than some random people on the internet can help with, but having been military with children, and having been forced to be away from them for extended periods of time. I chose and will always choose to keep the family together. We would move to a new location, buy a house and when it was time to relocate, keep it as a rental or sell depending on the market and familial needs.

I am going to make an assumption, since you are moving to NC you will be at Bragg. Unless you are a field grade, the on base schools and housing are not competitive with the informed choices you can make for your family off post.

My vote is B, if you are moving to Bragg school district is probably the most important aspect about buying a property. It will determine the quality of education your children receive, the neighbors you have, and the appreciation you may experience with your property as will as future rental rates.