Still ok to invest in rental if the rent a little less than mortage

[Shallin Partap Singh]

Hello Everyone,

I am new to Bigger Pockets and I just started listening to some investment tips from the podcast. I am glad that this community exists which can help/educate new investors like me.

I have a question:

We are almost close to putting in an offer on the first Rental Investment Property (Condo) we liked in the San Francisco Bay Area. So I was doing all the calculations like how much rent can I get (looking at the nearby similar properties) to check if it can cover the mortgage on the property or not. As we know interest rates are skyrocketing and with these rates (in 7's), the rent numbers are coming out to be a little less (a couple hundred) than the mortgage.

So my mortgage this this house will be ~ $3300 with 30% down (including HOA, homeowners insurance, and everything), but I will be getting ~$3100 rent.

My questions are:

1) Should I still pursue the offer? to increase my portfolio thinking that I can get it refinanced when the rates come down?

2) Should I put more down to make sure rent covers the mortgage?

What do you suggest?