In a few years, when you want to move, instead of selling your house, try to hang onto the asset and rent it. It will make a huge difference on your net worth statement when you are 40.
Yes. If one house is a poor choice, multiple houses is clearly the answer! :D Because renting a house always makes money... MustacheMath!
Oof. Owning rental homes has made a HUGE difference in the net worth of my SO, however, that was once he 1) had a lot of liquid cash assets because his business got sold and 2) because he bought the properties to rent out so he made the calculations for that, rather than for SFH.
His "disaster house" is a house he unfortunately still owns and rents out. He bought when he was in college because "it made sense at the time" (this was 2007) between bad tenants, vacancy, repairs, being a remote landlord 1.5 hours away, a market that fell apart in CollegeTown, a property manager who ended up stopped fixing things or sending rent to him (that he's had to take to court), and the initial interest rates on the home, it's all been a disaster.
Buying a house for the qualities you want in a SFH is totally different than properties you are trying to make an income off of.
There's very different calculations. Most people don't buy into a SFH by calculating the going rate in the local rental market and their buying process does not include the types of calculations you should do for a rental. If you are considering moving "up" (or even "down" since this is MMM) in house and renting out your owned house, make sure the house actually meets the criteria that you would follow to invest in the property on its own merits, not just based on the "sunk cost" of owning the home. Also decide if you really want the "not passive" income of owning properties - you need to be willing to take the cut on your investment (much higher than expense ratios) of a property manager, or have the skills, tools, and flexibility to handle maintenance, emergencies, and turnover for your property.
Landlording isn't for everyone and the people who lose at it are the people who don't go into it with their head on straight with the numbers.