Buying a House with No Intention of Living in It

Those who are interested in home buying Kingston are often assumed to be planning on moving into a newly-purchased house. While this is the biggest reason people buy houses, it isn't the only one. People who have some money to invest will find other opportunities in the housing market. Here are two of the most common ways to turn buying a house into a money-making proposition:

Rent it Out

Imagine buying a house without having to pay a single penny on the mortgage. That's the promise of buying homes and then renting them out. Does the reality stand up to the promise? If the cost of the home is properly balanced against the amount of rent it can bring in and the area is one in which people want to rent, then the answer is yes – most of the time. Some months will be exceptions, so investors should keep a slush fund ready.

Exceptions to the rule of rent money paying for a mortgage are fairly rare overall, but they can be counted on to come up a few times per year. Reasons include unexpected breakdowns of household infrastructure such as furnaces and times when the house has no tenants. These things need not deter investors from becoming landlords. Investors simply need to be ready for them.

Fix and Flip

The housing bust scared many people off from the idea of flipping, but there's still plenty of money to be made from the practice. One key to success is in the "fixing" aspect of fixing and flipping. The perceived value of a house rises tremendously when it looks new and move-in ready. Therefore, the profit comes from finding homes that look a bit run down, fixing them up, and then reselling them at the much-higher prices that good-condition houses can get.

Investors looking to fix and flip should seek homes that will be mostly or completely fixed with a new coat of paint, new carpet, and perhaps new appliances. Avoid houses that need major repairs. It's also important to stick to prices that the neighborhood will bear and plan upgrades accordingly.

Whether an investor decides to become a landlord or get into fixing and flipping, he or she will start to see real estate in a new and exciting light. Soon, the idea of buying a house just to live in it will be a vague concern compared to all of the opportunities that will spring to mind!