Buy now or later - starter home and newbie investor

[Alesha Irvin]

Hi all!!

I’m in a bit of a dilemma. I’m planning to move to Dallas in the next month or so to make that home for the next 5-10 years. I’ve moved around a lot and I’m finally ready to pick a place to call home. Previous job based in Connecticut.

I’m already pre-approved and have been looking at place. Was planning to house hack a small multifamily but they’re scarce in the DFW market. Single family homes in a nice area are around 250k> right now. Also, from what I see, distressed properties are in an undesirable location for me as a single woman. && with covid I’m not crazy about house hacking a room in a single family.

I’m trying to decide if I should just rent for a bit in Dallas and continue to invest in MS (currently have 2 properties there; strategy = buy and hold). I’m concerned about tying up a lot of cash in my primary residence and it’s impact on my ability to get loans and continue to invest. My goal is to add at least 4 doors this year.

Also considering purchasing a nice single family, live there for a year or two, then rent it out and purchase another.. just seems like it’ll take forever to build my portfolio.

Thoughts or suggestions?