Current renter. Given market conditions, what would you do?

[Neil Quinn]

Hi all,

I currently rent, and am torn on what next steps should be.  I don't want to continue renting, but it also seems that in most places where I'd want to live, cashflow isn't really an option if I ever move out of the area, which I would like to do in 1-2 years.

Real estate is expensive in my area (DC/NoVA), and multi-family units run $600k+.  I likely would qualify/feel comfortable for somewhere in the $450k range, and am in the pre-approval process now.

Rising interest rates scare me.  Would you err on the side of just buying something as a primary residence now and slowly looking for deals over the next few years?  Or would you wait and try to find a good combination unit to live in / rent out, but possibly face +1 to +2% interest rates.

There seem to be a few locations where I might be able to roughly breakeven if I move out 1-2 years from now and rent it out, but they are in suburban areas that far from DC, and as a single guy in his late 30's, it concerns me that I'd end up being a hermit.

How would you balance lifestyle vs. investing at this point? Another option could be using FHA/etc instead of 20% down to leave more investment cash open for the future for my primary residence, but even then it might be rather tough to qualify for future investment property if I already have a $400k primary residence loan in my name.