Posted by Clarence on September 14, 2003 at 20:52:39:
Hi,
My wife and I hope to start renting condos within the next few years. We bought our first one last year. It’s a 2 BR, 1 bath in a big (25,000 student) college town. We’re living in this unit right now. It’s a very pleasent place to live… swimming pool, tennis court, picnic tables, etc.
We hope to pay the mortage down to around 20 or 30 thousand and then buy another unit and begin renting this one out. We plan on doing this until we retire… hopefully we’ll have 3 or 4 nice condos by then generating a good cash flow to supplement out retirement income.
Anyway, here’s my question: Is renting really a good way to have a cash flow? We have to pay property tax $800.00/year and a home owner’s association fee $1,200/year (that includes water, sewer and trash removal). So, if we rented the unit today for $700/month that would come out to $8,400/year minus the above mentioned expenses. And what about bad renters adding to the yearly expenses by damaging things?
Reading these forums has got me to thinking. Is renting really worthwhile? Do people really become wealthy by renting property? Any suggestions to encourage me?
Thanks in advance,
Clarence