Rental Unit Question

[Walther Mendez]

Hey Everyone, I am looking at renting out my townhome in February/March 2018. I would like to save about 4 months worth of mortgage payments before I rent it out. It is currently my primary residence and my wife and I plan on buying a second home around that time frame next year. The townhome was built in 2016 so all appliances are new and no major renovations are needed as of now. My mortgage, HOA, Taxes and Insurance come out to $860 a month and the townhomes near me are renting for about $1200 a month. I do plan on managing it on my own for the first year or so. I do plan on saving more than the 4 months of mortgage, but would like to know at what quantity should I begin to use the cashflow to save for another investment. My question to you is how much reserve should I save for my unit? Is there a rule of thumb I can go by? Thank you in advance!

[Raul R.]

I own 2 Investment Properties in Charlotte, both are Condos.
If you will be living in Charlotte i agree you don't need a Property Manager for 1 Unit.
I believe for beginners Condos are a good way to start and once you build your network start looking into SFH and multis..
Keep in mind HOA fees can go up and you have no control over that, and sometimes they add assessments for emergency repairs.
Also look into liability/ Umbrella insurance, my new CPA gave me that recommendation and to my surprise it's not very expensive..
You have plan in place on how to find and screen tenants?