buy rental without risking primary residence?

Question

I am new and looking for some advice.

I currently co own my primary residence with my wife and would never want to risk it.

Is it possible for me to invest in longterm rental without putting my primary residence at risk?

I'm looking at a 100k property renting for 1k/month. What if the market crashes/rental market crashes/ hurricane/flood?

Can I isolate that loss to just me if I had to short sale or forclose without risking my current property i co-own with my wife?

Stan Hill · Answer

Conventional loan, 20% down, no jeopardy for primary residence.

John Voychick · Answer

that's comforting. My ultimate plan is to have a portfolio of properties that will give me solid returns in 15+ years.  I just don't want to risk our good start on our current house :)

Christine Kankowski · Answer

There are a few things to note when minimizing risk.  Make sure you can afford it- have some savings to cover down time in rent, repairs, etc.

If , for some reason , the market goes down for sales prices, that doesn't necessarily mean the rents will go down. Even then, instead of getting $1000 rent, you could get $850, and that still wouldn't make you short sell the property.

You will have insurance for hurricane, flood, etc.  Make sure your renters get renters insurance for their stuff.

Property investing is for the long term, so short term decreases in market wont affect you too much, if you dont hav to sell quickly.  I held on to my properties during the major 2008/9 downturn and they have all come back very well and rents have increased.

John Voychick · Answer

This is all helpful thanks guys.

I'm not super concerned about having to carry the rent or pay for the repairs, a few thousand here or there. I Guess i was just wondering:

a. If I get sued and I have the rental as part of an LLC, can they come after my primary residence?

b. If my mortgage is 650 and my rental income is 1000, does that seem like enough cushion? not including property management, possibly vacancy and repairs. I wish the 2% rule existed buy I'm not settling for less than 1%.

c. Is it realistic that average rent can drop from 1000/mo to 500/mo?

Brian Adzadi · Answer

I agree with @Christine Kankowski and @Stan Hill. The last recession was based on ppl making money off of the appreciation. However, that is not your motive. You are in it for the long haul. As long as you put a 20% down payment, renting, and cash flowing with the rent then you can weather any storm. Happy investing.

Thomas S. · Answer

As Anthony says you can not invest without risk. There will always be the possibility when investing that you could, due to unforeseen circumstances, go bankrupt and lose everything. House included. There are ways to mitigate the risk but impossible to completely eliminate it

Real estate investing is high risk due to liability issues related to simply having tenants and debt. High risk is why there is the possibility of high rewards.

If you do not want to risk your home put your money into a income fund or REIT. Worse case you will then only lose the cash you have invested.

Real estate investing is high risk. If you are not prepared to risk all you have you better think again.

Anthony Gayden · Answer

If you are looking for a way to invest without putting anything at risk, you will not find it. I wish it existed but it does not. Instead you should focus on minimizing risk.

I like to minimize risk by having a large emergency fund. It gives me peace of mind even in those rough months when I have a lot of repairs/maintenance at my rentals. I also like to minimize risk by having a good insurance policy on my rentals.

Of course the best way to minimize risk is by buying the property and running the numbers correctly to maximize cash flow so that it covers all expenses. I also believe that the higher the number of units, the less risky rental property investing can be.

buy rental without risking primary residence?

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