I realize this question may not be possible.
However, I've been thinking about earmarking about $20,000 from my investments to purchase an initial real estate property.
What I'm wondering is if it's possible to purchase something like a duplex or four-plex or other kind of plex, live in one unit rent-free or at-cost and cover mortgage and property expenses with the rental income?
Is there also a way to do this and hire a management company to handle the operations of the property?
Does this sound at all possible?
If not, what would you suggest I do with that $20,000, in terms of real estate?
The aim is several fold:
- To dramatically reduce my personal housing cost
- To build equity in real estate instead of renting
- To use it as a base for more real estate acquisitions
Whether you can find a duplex at the right price point for your $20,000 to help you purchase & prep it is going to depend on your market. I don't know your market or what's available there, but you can find out online fairly easily.
It's definitely possible to have the rent from other units cover all the costs of the building, so that you can live "rent free" in your unit.
However, I'm not sure why you would want to hire a management company to handle the operations. One of the perks of living in the building is that it is dead simple to manage it yourself, since you're right there. That doesn't mean you have to fix everything yourself. You can still hire professional repairmen, etc. But why pay to have someone else manage a property that you live in? You would have to have a very full/busy life to need that service, I think.
I speak from some personal experience. We have 2 apartments on the top floor of the house my wife and I live in. It's very simple to manage them. We also own 3 single-family houses in our town, two of which are visible from my front porch. The third is about 5 blocks away. I manage them all myself. On average, over the years, the management of each of these properties probably takes less than an hour or two per month. Most of that happens when there's a vacancy, which means that most months they take almost zero time. Five minutes, maybe.
So... that's my input. I look forward to reading the input of others. :)