The Super Official Homeowners Thread

[HAULN-SS]

I think if you want to buy a house, you should buy a house. Then, to ease the financial burden, rent a room or two out and have a roommate. You'll probably get annoyed AF by the annoying things renters do, in a house that you own, but it could work out if you choose wisely the tenants and remember that they're helping you pay down a place.

If you want to invest in real estate, take whatever money you have leftover and throw it in a REIT. Unless you're going to get into flipping full time, everything else you listed is probably a waste of time. Successful flippers start with a bag full of cash so they can buy places without a mortgage. Almost 100% of your first month's mortgage payment is going to interest = subtracting from your profit margin directly. It only gets slightly better for the first 10 years of owning a place. There's a reason those flippers want to get done as soon as possible.

And lastly - you're basically looking to buy at damn near top of the market. I don't know if anyone can predict when the next downturn will be, but almost everywhere prices are up substantially YoY. I think you might be better of waiting until there's at least a slight correction in the market. If youre concerned about "missing the bottom" while waiting that out, take all your spare money and put it in a Vanguard ETF or something else with a decent return.