Rent vs Buy and then renting

[Nicolas Do]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post. I have been listening to this amazing guys in BP for almost a year so I decided to try asking the following question since I'm still struggling.

I'm in North Dallas and currently renting. I know I will leave the country in 4 years but I want to invest some of the money so I did a lot of math, use the BP calculators but can't put all my ducks in a row.

Here the case: I'm paying $2200 for a rent. The house I'm living is around $350-400k and that does not match the 2% rule, not even the 1%. ( property taxes here are $8500-9000 annual + HOA of $800.)

If I buy a cheap house for $300K ( real cost $350-370, since there are some houses in good shape that have been listed for 200-300 days and the prices keep going down) I can be break even in 4 years ( math from rent vs buy calculator)

Will that be a good deal even if that don;t follow the 1% rule since I paid 4 years of mortgage instead of throwing money on a rent?

The original plan was buying to apartments in downtown Dallas and using them for AirBnB and with that offsetting my actual rental expense, then when I leave the apartment go for rent and are easy to maintain. Apartments in Dallas around $150K can get a $1500 rent.

Thanks in advance and hope I was a bit clear.

Lots of things going around my head.

Nick