First rental property

[Mark Alphonse]

I'm getting ready to buy my first property. Is it better to pay cash even if it will take almost all my cash or is it better to put say 20 to 30 percent down and finance the rest just to have some back for a rainy day?

What I was looking at is a place that currently has a tenant in place so I guess it would be concidered turnkey.

[Trevor Ewen]

@Mark Alphonse 

I tend to prefer to finance. You have to with your own comfort levels and consider external factors. As my lender says: 'Money is cheap' right now. Interest rates are incredibly low. Go fixed, go 30 year. Take the rest of the money, buy another property or do something else (investing) with it. 

With the spread between 20 & 30 you will get much better terms as you head toward 30. It's all a matter of personal preference. If you're having trouble deciding, split the difference, and go with 25% down. I use this technique often when attempting to decide between two investment extremes.