Buy a house, rent the top, live in the bottom?

amother

Khaki

Tue, Aug 27 2019, 6:27 pm

I bought a house and rented part of it out.

I had great tenants and one really bad one.
Tenants that found every excuse not to pay rent, running to Bais din and court multiple times.
The wife walked in heels all the time, they were noisy way after 1 am most nights.
Complained about everything possible, ridiculous things, but didn't tell us about important things like leaks causing expensive repairs.

I have amazing tenants now bh who pay on time and never complain! Same place, different people.

Screen tenants!
The difference between bad and a great one is a huge difference

Pikachu

Tue, Aug 27 2019, 7:08 pm

misrael wrote:

Hello,

We're considering purchasing a home, renting the top and living in the basement. We're a small family, and don't need a full home space. The rent collected can ideally go towards the mortgage fees, but we should probably only purchase a home we could afford without the rent bonus, since it's not a given to have a renter. This way, we would be investing in a house that we could live in or sell instead of paying rent that leads to no where. Of course, it will cost more than renting, but if we can afford it, it may pay off long term...

Has anyone done this before or heard of people doing this? What was the experience like? How much time and effort did you need to spend 'land-lording' (collecting rent, finding rentals, managing repairs) Did you feel it was worth it?

From a purely logical point of view, it’s probably not the optimal way to invest your money. You’re generally better off straight up investing it elsewhere, renting a home, and placing the difference between your rent and what your mortgage would be into an investment as well. Mutual funds and investment homes are both great investments with long term upside and possible income potential as well.

Of course, as with everything else, there are variables that can come into play that would make it a better financial decision. Also, the emotional aspect of “needing” to pay your mortgage and “locking up” your down payment can keep you honest about your budgeting/saving, more so than an alternative investment, so that should be taken into consideration as well.