I am a young investor in the lower-mainland looking for some advice in getting started in real-estate investing. My wife and I are currently in the market looking for a condo (Langley/East Surrey) with about 20-30% down. We have gained pre-approval and put some offers on a couple places but no luck on any of them. We started to think whether we should rent in this market and buy in another area (in-province or out-of-province) given the price-to-rent ratio? Our initial thought was to live in the place initially, paying the mortgage ourselves, then turning it into a rental property in the future (5-10 years). Any wisdom on this would appreciated.
Real Estate Agent · Abbotsford, BC · Member since 2017 · 78 posts · 9 votes
5y
Hey @Michael Johnson, Im a bit late to this reply but thought id give my input anyways. Its my personal thought that its usually better to get into your principal residence before buying rental property. The reason why that is, is because you will be paying down a mortgage instead of renting. That portion of the mortgage that goes towards the principal is almost like cashflow because if you weren't paying down a mortgage you'd be paying rent and losing that same amount of money. Not only that, but you need a place to live anyways, you're riding the market up (hopefully) as you are advancing in your career, paying down the mortgage and then when you eventually want to sell its TAX FREE!
Anyways, that's just my take on it. I'm sure there are situations where it'd make more sense to own a rental property and rent the place you live in but I'd always suggest getting into your principal residence as soon as you can.