My First Rental Property

[Adam Boertje]

Hi all. I close on my my first SFH investment for $235k on Friday. I put 20% down and my PMI will be $1635. I have a long term renter lined up in a guy that has worked for me for several years. I’ve seen how well he takes care of his stuff, so I feel pretty good about it. He’s a great employee. I’ve been a GC who specializes in water damage restoration and reconstruction for 22 years. Therefore I have connections for if/when things go wrong. I’m charging my employee $1500 a month, which puts me slightly in the red. But if he stays at least 10 years, I see that as a gain. My question is, on a 30 year loan, 20% down, do y’all try to make any positive cash flow? Or is it more about just having the renter pay off the property for you? I make a good living and have a pretty good chunk of change in the stock market for retirement, but I am still interested in buying more rentals to diversify my portfolio. Not for positive cash flow, but to have assets in 15-20 years to sell off for retirement money. Am I on the right track?