Moving To Another State

It is indeed difficult to be an absentee landlord, unless you have someone in the area to take charge of things. Who will arrange repairs, show the house it when it comes up vacant, run a credit check on prospective tenants, chase after rent if it's late? When you go to sell, the house will never show as well after it's been tenant-occupied as it does while you're living in it. And you will have lost the chance for special homesellers' tax treatment on your profit. Then again -- when you say you'll have $300 a month profit, you haven't allowed for maintenance or vacancies. Most important, you're ignoring lost interest on your equity. Even if you did clear a full $3,600 a year, you'd be keeping $80,000 tied up to get it, less than five percent return at best. It costs money every day to keep your money invested in the house; that's one of the costs of owning. If you sold, you could use that $80,000 for additional down payment on your new home, reducing your monthly payment by more than $650. Many single houses make good investment property, particularly as first-time ventures. But if you want to start being landlords, buy something within half an hour of your own home -- your new home. And don't tie up $80,000 to do it