Real Estate, like any other investment opportunity, can make or loose you money.  However, real estate is more risky because it requires renters to pay the bills and a buyer when you want to get out of it and if you do not purchase correctly, you may never get ahead.  I was luckier than I like to admit but I also planned for over a year to buy my current property.  My husband and I bought a duplex in December 2009 in Cheektowaga, NY after moving there that August. We decided that we would only buy if we could afford our bills without a renter in the other half and that the mortgage should cost less than or equal to the rent of one half so we could afford to keep renting out the duplex when we moved.  If we are unable to rent it out when we leave, we will lose money because of the six percent realtor fee to sell.  So far we have done well, it only took us two months to fix up the place and get renters and have had the same renters since.  They are moving out in October/November and we will see if we do well with tenants again.  We did have many people look at our apartment and many we were unwilling to rent to.  We had one woman who brought her new dog with her and the dog bit her kids, thankfully we had decided to do animal interviews and therefore knew not to rent to her. Others did not make enough money to pay rent and their other bills and still others with so many bills in collections.  We only offered the place to two renters over than two month period.  Being able to not rent the apartment saved us a ton of headaches. 

We are enjoying being landlords though.  We do have to work on the weekends to keep the place nice and there have been a couple of emergency repairs but mostly we have had a good run.  We are even in the market for another rental.  So far though, we have not found one that meets our qualifications.  We require the tenants, if any, to meet our qualifications for tenants, that the mortgage is less than one apartment’s rent, the property must be in good condition, built after 1950 and must be in an area I’d be willing to live.  I won’t be a slumlord.  We have been looking for about six months now and nothing.  Our response is to continue to save, we must have three month emergency fund plus twenty-five percent down and six percent for closing and keep an eye on overpriced properties, just in case they come down.  Right now we have enough for the down payment and closing but not the full three months so I am alright with waiting but I would jump on the right property in a second.  But my husband has a very stable job, as a graduate student, with the money to pay him already set aside.  If we were not extremely stable, I would need to wait till we have the three month emergency fund.

Everyone’s situation is different, some people can take risks, some can’t and that is ok.  Find out where your comfortable situation is and base your decisions on investments and life on that.  Don’t invest or live for someone else, live for yourself.