New Member - Cleveland, OH

[Ron Masek]

Hi all. 

I stumbled across this incredible wealth of Real Estate information when researching info on a potential first investment. I currently have ZERO real estate experience (Sales Engineer for my day job), but have been toying with the idea of eliminating my $900+/mo apartment rent expense and purchasing a duplex to live in half and rent out the other half.

After some quick research this seems like no-brainer and I am almost ashamed that I didn't think of this sooner. I have a lot to learn when it comes to mortgages (this will also be my first home purchase), landlording, leases, etc., but I am seriously considering make this move within the next 6 mos - 1 year. My main goal at this point would be to have the tenant cover the mortgage, taxes, insurance, with some extra on top to save to repairs/rennovations. Even if passive income isn't viable, eliminating my current rent payment alone would make this venture well worth it. 

A few houses I have been looking at in a popular area are in the $140k range and could bring in roughly $750-$1000/mo in rent. On the surface the numbers seem to work out in my favor, but I still have a lot of research to do.

Initially this would be a relatively short term investment (~5 years). I do not want to live in a double nor do I want to live in the area I am looking at long term, but if I can not pay rent for 5 years that could potentially put over $50k in my pocket over that time frame. Once I am ready to purchase a house for myself I would probably consider selling, but would entertain finding another tenant and keeping the property if it made sense.

The first questions I am going to be looking towards answering are 30yr vs 15 yr, mortgage and what is the ideal down payment (I have the 20% in cash at the moment, but am wondering if I should put less down and save capital for repairs/rennovations) for this situation.

I have a long way to go before I decide to make the move, but I know this site will be my "go to" for information!

Thanks,

Ron