All Forum Posts by: Andrew Horner

The consensus is that waiting isn't the wise way to go.
But is paying down my house still a good idea? Sorry if that's a rookie question. A friend of mine who has several rentals told me he and his wife pay down their houses and then leverage those houses to buy new ones. If I did that, I'd be both paying down (thereby saving on interest and MI) and using that money toward new properties at the same time. 

Good point. Even if I wait for a recession, Austin may hold up as people leave the coasts. With FHA, I have mortgage insurance and a 4.5% rate. A solid property should make up for that.

Hey there! 

TL;DR:

I'm 29, have 40K to invest per year, but don't think I should "buy high." I'm not confident I'll get great deals on houses in this market. Should I just pay down my own mortgage for now, use my house as a savings account, and leverage it to buy rental homes when the economy dips? Or should I just get started buying houses? 

More detail:
I have a salary of $70K that I live on. Two months ago I bought our first house ($250k, Austin, TX, via FHA). I'm new to being employed, having run my own business (graffiti art, colorcartel.com) since I graduated from college 4 years ago. But even employed, I've been able to continue making money with my murals at the same rate. So I've decided to live on my salary, and dedicate $40k/yr of my art income to investing. If I just pay down my own mortgage, would it be easy to leverage this to a buy a house or two when we have our next recession? Or should I just suck it up and try to find good deals now?

Thanks!
Andrew