With Airbnb prices rising, we loved the idea of investing in a few different small apartments scattered around the world so we would have a virtually free place to stay, and when we were not there we would make money off of sites like Booking and Airbnb.

@Joe Michaels, What a lot of investors will do is to use the 1031 exchange as @Michael Plaks said, isto actually "acquire" additional depreciable basis. 

@Felicia NituIn addition if you actually want to realize that value, you need to count another 5% for selling costs, and the taxes from the sale.Assuming a 20% capital gains tax, your total ROI on the above scenario would be about 12%, even with the numbers you were using. 

But finding a virtual employee who you know knows what they’re doing, won’t “half-*** it”  and yet won’t run off with your money might be harder than it sounds.

That way, they don't waste their money if they know they will fail.

I was drawn to real estate as a way of investing money I have saved up (around $130K with additional funds to leverage out of a 401K if needed), and potentially creating reliable cash flow over the next 10 years. 

I learned a lot through the closing process and also as an actual landlord having to deal with issues.

My brother had access to the other $160K but ultimately purchased a 4-plex two months later using his own money instead.Currently, its written that if my brother doesn't use the funds then he gets 160k value from the estate extra, as I used my half already but then my dad suggested a 2% annual appreciation on that amount seems fair on the 160k for him, and now he believes it should match his home’s appreciation, which is roughly 5% per year.

I would try not to tie up any of the principal in down payments.Personally, I had a family member do this same thing, but they used an investment portfolio as the collateral instead of real estate.If you play your cards right, this might be the only short-term money you ever need.Please let us know what you end up doing.

Hi Kam 👋 There’s so many ways to make money in real estate and they all have their pros and cons.