How Do You Know Your Picking a Good First Home?

I’m a fan of- because I’m in this whole mindset that you should rent. You should rent the house to someone else. If you own it, rent it to someone else and let them make the payment. But if you are going to rent your house out to someone, you need to be protected. If you don’t have a property manager or don’t know what they do, check out https://www.pcfmanagement.com/ellicott-city-property-management to learn more. Buying or renting a house is a complicated process and you need to be aware of all the hidden costs and things that can go wrong.

So, when you’re buying your first home chances are, this is not the home you’re going to be in the rest of your life. So don’t try to hit a homerun the first time. Don’t try to get all of the upgrades and spend too much money, buy a home that will be easy to rent out to someone else.

Get a nice 3 bedroom, 2 bath home with a garage that has modest upgrades. Again, don’t go crazy. People get caught in this idea of they want to buy this fabulous, super wonderful house. Things are going to happen. You’re going to move on in life. Career changes. Neighborhood changes.

The first house you buy you should keep in mind for it to be a good rental, or be a good starter home for someone else. Because, when you go to resell it, or you rent it out- if it’s a good modest starter home you’re going to have a much bigger market than if you’ve upgraded to a three car garage. Or, if you’ve upgraded to the extra tile and granite. It’s going to limit the people you can rent to or sell to in the future.

So I think that first home should be a nice, modest starter home and grow out of it. Be in it for a couple of years, rent it out to someone, and the go buy your castle.

Check out more Money Minute segments HERE and make sure to tune into The Kane Show to listing to the Money Minute with Robert Palmer every morning at 8:20 am.