alright so I'm happy to be home but like. upon getting back into town my first thoughts were about how I don't really want to live here anymore. might move to Memphis

I'm thinking of buying a house and then renting it out as a way to make money on the side. I've never bought a house before and I still live with my parents (yeah I know what the hell) but I thought I could make money this way along with my job. What do you guys think? Do you think it's a good idea and is it worth it? //

Hi bestie! As a nonnie who bought my first house in 2020 as a young single woman let me help you. Idk what country you live in but you need to look into taxes for a home you live in vs a home you rent out, that’s a big thing. Because you get some tax exemptions etc for owning and residing in the house. Also I’m in the US so as a first time home owner I could put a lower percent of the house down through an FHA loan so I only needed like 3% of total costs, normally you need 20% down on a house. You need to anticipate closing costs as well, you need at least a few grand over the down payment because some money will get held until the title is cleared. They are gonna want all your money info— I had to give retirement accounts, income, stock portfolio all of it. Also just a heads up with inflation and the housing market in the US now may not be a good time to buy bc your interest rate will be higher and you may spend more to buy the house. If you want to wait a few years, I’m sure the market will crash or at least go down. That’s why I bought during the pandemic. Interest rates were hella low because they wanted to stimulate the economy so were encouraging purchasing. You don’t have to have an agent but I’d recommend one you trust for buying for the first time otherwise you can go directly to the title company and save some that way. I used an agent who is now my property manager and was my property management at the place I was staying before my house. Good way to build a relationship. Okay now depending on your strategy there are a few ways to go. Buy a cheap house and flip it either in an upcoming neighborhood or the worst house on the street of a decent neighborhood. Sometimes there are benefits to buying in certain areas, like in my neighborhood since it was a designated like area of town there was support for improvements if you planned to live there a certain period of time. You may want to look into that. I bought my house as a long term investment so I bought a recent flip and one of the better homes in a neighborhood I know will be in a better spot in 20 years. How you can tell is if there are developments happening around the neighborhood. My house is near downtown in a sketchy area that has been being developed all around my street but not to my street yet, it’s also near the local university. You really want to understand stuff like this if you plan to buy. The city I was living in has been doing a lot to expand through bringing in new companies and upgrading the airport, which also means it’s a good investment because more people will be moving in over the next few decades. I figure my house will double in value if not more. It’s paramount you understand the area you are buying in. I bought it flipped bc I’m not handy and didn’t want to deal with all that and I needed to move in and work full time blah blah. So idk what your strategy is but that will inform decisions. Also owning a house is a lot more work than I anticipated so keep that in mind. It’s not easy and there are a lot of upfront costs. Even though you plan to rent it out make sure you can afford the mortgage, I got approved for a house up to double the one I bought. Because you may struggle to find renters initially you need to prepare for that. Idk how hands off you want to be. I always planned to be hands off bc I planned to leave that state at some point and I don’t want to deal with tenants. I pay my property manager 10% of rent and they’re in charge of getting the renters moved in, doing repairs, cleaning etc. Now some of that will come out of my rental income but it’s just part of it. Idk if you’re anticipating making bank but it may only be a couple hundred a month. I have a friend who has three properties and she about breaks even every month. And she doesn’t use a property manager. And her tenant stories are tragic. Where you make most money is multi unit properties. So maybe consider that. Idk if you have more questions but if you comment on the ask we can talk off anon :) also Reddit forums are heaven. Good luck!!!

JESUS! Well, this is definitely some precious guidance 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Thank you for taking the time to help our bestie!

Like you said, it depends on the country really. Here, it’s completely different from what you just described, so it’s really important to look for info about the laws from the country you are planning on buying the house!!

Good luck 💛💛💛