20 year mortgage vs 30 year mortgage

[Eugene C.]

Hello All,

I'm new to REI and I am busy negotiating my first deal at the moment. I'm starting small, so it's a single apartment unit, which I plan to rent out and hold indefinitely.

Whilst preparing my mortgage finance application I have been giving some thought to whether I should apply for a 20 or 30 year loan period. My thinking is as follows:

All else being equal and assuming I can secure the same interest rate for either loan periods, a 30 year loan will have a lower monthly repayment, giving me higher monthly cashflow. The downside is obviously increased total interest payment over the life term of the loan.

A 20 year loan will obviously have the opposite effect.

My question is, given that my strategy is "buy-to-let", am I correct in my thinking that the advantage of more robust cashflow from day 1 with a 30 year loan is more desirable than the lower total interest payment over a 20 year period?

Thank you in advance for all input.

Eugene