Finance a property or pay cash

[Patrice Reynolds]

I have starting capital and I'm still a bit unclear when I should pay cash to purchase a property or put a mortgage on it so my initial costs are lower.  Is there a rule of thumb?

[Joe P.]

You should run numbers on both a mortgaged property and a property paid with cash for COCR purposes.

As for rule of thumb, many investors would like to leverage their ability to obtain mortgages and start with a lot of units, versus dumping all working capital into one unit and not being able to make further moves until its regained (which could take years).

It sounds like you don't have a single property -- I'd recommend running numbers and taking the plunge on a mortgaged property, getting some experience and operational protocols in place, and then expand from there.