Thinking about buying a rental property in Houston, TX

[Gurpreet Chahal]

I’m 27 and I recently moved to Houston from Canada. I’m thinking about buying my first rental property in the Houston area. I’m thinking of a 3-4 bedroom house with 2-3 roommates. I currently have 10 more months left in my lease. Do you recommend waiting until my lease is about to expire to buy the first property?

[Jeff Lee]

@Gurpreet Chahal

FHA is certainly *a* way, and not a bad one, for getting that first property. The other options (generally...there are certainly others) are the conventional 20% down, a VA loan for US veterans (probably doesn't apply), or a 203K loan, which allows you to move into a non-conforming fixer upper.

The main thing to remember is REI is a marathon not a sprint. Get started, keep moving forward, but don't feel like it all has to be done in by the end of the FY! Think in terms of years or even decades, not months.