New member - Saint Charles/St Louis MO

[Jeff Dietz]

I have been lurking on here for about a month but I have been interested in real estate investing for close to a year. I am 25, and I have some disposable income from my 9-5 and I would like to grow money in a variety of ways. I will keep my 9-5, and I am primarily interested in buy and hold. I am not necessarily interested in flipping or wholesaling since I have a good day job that requires a lot of responsibility.

I currently have a 1400sq ft townhome that I bought about 3.5 years ago. I rent out an extra master bedroom to a friend. I am really wanting to move to a house so I can have dogs and outdoor space of my own and have more people over. The value of the house dropped drastically a year after I bought the townhome but then climbed back up to where it started, and seems that it will continue to climb. I have also done a lot of upgrades including a new furnace and a/c. I would like to rent out the townhome but I am not seeing that it would be anywhere close to the 50% rule at this time. I will be looking for advice on the best way to do this (if it is even worth it).

Additionally, I would like to look for other buy and hold deals, particularly in the St. Charles area.

I hope to interact with more people on this site.