Buying property to rent to parents

[Andy Foslin]

Hi everyone - I'm a licensed Realtor in Tampa Fl. My ultimate goal has always been to obtain 5-10 properties just to gain the long term equity as I work (more than) full time and don't need the cash flow.  A great opportunity came up as my parents are planning to move down here to sunny Florida in the next 9 months and want to rent for a while to get used to the area while they look for a permanent home. We discussed that I could possibly buy a home and have them rent from me. My worry is that my parents have a very high standard of living and it could force me into buying a more expensive house than I want, or that I could be buying a house that's not really tailored to my long term investment goals (for example my mom really wants a pool but I don't want to buy a rental with a pool because I know future renters wont take care of it etc) My gf is a little house crazy right now too so shes obviously pushing for very expensive forevor home to live in and I don't necessarily want to buy a forevor home (at least not right now) I want a great investment opportunity. Am I crazy for second guessing this potentially awesome opportunity or should I stick to something a bit more reasonable and in-line with my permanent rental goals?

[Ke Nan Wang]

It's usually not wise to do business with family and friends even everyone's goals are aligned. Majority of the people don't have that kind of relationship and trust and a small misstep can ruin both the investment deal and relationship. 

In your scenario none of the people's interest are aligned so my best advice for you is to keep everything separate. 

You find your own investment property based on your criteria. Your parents rent/buy their home based on their interest and financial capability. And lastly you go find your next primary residence based on your wife's want (or how good are you at influence her decision to swing it towards your want).