Buying income/investment property before my first home

[Kwesi S.]

Over the past few months I have been trying to figure out ways to make some extra cash. Since I am not interested in starting a business or the stock market, I have decided to focus on real estate. My question is as follows:

Should I purchase a income/investment property before I purchase my own home? My plan is to purchase a income.investment property in a college community (walking distance from campus) and rent the property to students (actually their parents). I then plan to save the cash flow and combine it with my savings to then purchase a home for myself and down the road purchase more income/investment property. Is this a good idea?

I am meeting with a mortgage broker on Thursday to begin the pre-approval process for a loan for the investment property but just though conversation and setting up my appointment I feel that the leander is actually trying to get me to purchase my own home first.

Info about myself:

9 months married
living in rental property
not sure where i want to purchase the home I want to live in
no kids
my wife and I have full time jobs
my wife is not interested in living in a multi family home
we owe over 100k in student loans...lol

[Glenn Espinosa]

My reasoning is this and it may be flawed but take it for whats its worth.

If I were to buy a personal residence right now it would be a distressed property with room for value adding - it's just the investor in me. I cringe when I see young couples buy huge retail homes that they don't need and get stuck with zero equity and not to mention wiped out savings due to down payments. Although, with the rates being where they are right now, you can make a great argument towards going ahead and buying a nice home...

For example, I know a young couple in their mid 20's who have great incomes and no children. They went out and bought a 3,400 sq ft McMansion for 500k+ and are now stuck paying that huge mortgage every month, have probably wiped out their savings, and have lost all liquidity in terms of making investments. Talk about jumping a few spots in the rat race but guess what... you're still in the rat race.

As for me, I'd rather invest first and then buy the home I really want later - or rather, buy a distressed home that I can turn into my dream home, then sell... for profit.