Buying a Duplex, to rent 1/2 and live in the the other 1/2

Discussion in 'Buying & Selling Real Estate' started by sanders89, May 19, 2014.

  1. sanders89

    sanders89 Member

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    Do you think it is a good idea to buy an old duplex and fix it up? You can live in half of it, while renting out the other half to help pay your mortgage? I would love to hear your thoughts.
     
  2. crimsonghost747

    crimsonghost747 Senior Investor

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    From a purely financial point of view I think it's a good idea. I'm away a lot so I even though of buying a house and renting it out room by room for students and just keeping one room for myself.

    But if it's actually a good idea or not, that really depends on your personal preferences and how you want to live.
     
  3. InterestedInvesto

    InterestedInvesto Active Member

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    Yes, I think that's a great idea if you are a student or single. Once you have a family, you'd like the whole house to yourself. This would be a good way to earn some un-taxed income to pay off your mortgage.
     
  4. Kate

    Kate Senior Investor

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    Financially I've always thought it was a decent idea. And even had plans (albeit just for a very short time) to check into doing just that. But then it changed when I rented half of a duplex for a short time.

    When I was downstairs doing my laundry, I could hear *everything* the people on the other side were saying... every noise, every word. Ugh! :( So of course I knew they could hear us, too.

    And when the lady next door "cooked" (for lack of a better term) and I heard smoke alarms from the cooking smoke she caused, I realized that people in the other half of a duplex had the power to destroy MY side with theirs if they were careless.

    If I'd ever buy a duplex now, it would always be for two rentals... never myself living there.
     
  5. Strykstar

    Strykstar Well-Known Member

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    I personally wouldn't do this, like Kate says, even if the two halves are separate there is never any real privacy.
    The best option when buying a duplex would be to rent it out, either to two families or to a single one.
     
  6. Kate

    Kate Senior Investor

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    Yes... or even three. I live near an area where the price of a duplex is often ridiculously low... and two or three monthly rent payments would pay it off rather quickly, I'd think.

    The place where I had to rent for a while was a duplex originally... the owners kept one who side, but turned the second side into an upstairs and a downstairs apartment, so doing that would pull in three rents instead of two. Still not sure I'd want the headaches, though.
     
  7. JackHark

    JackHark Active Member

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    At the end of the day you need to decide if it is worth all the effort and time. I agree with you and think that it would be a nightmare to try set everything up and manage the place.
     
  8. Silver

    Silver Active Member

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    I would do it and rent the other part to an elderly person or couple. They won't be partying until all hours of the night and since they're on a fixed income, you know you'll be getting your rent payment every month.
     
  9. Abqu

    Abqu Well-Known Member

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    If you can stand living in a duplex, it's a great idea. I don't like sharing walls with neighbors. But if this sort of living arrangement works for you, it's worth a shot.
     
  10. JackHark

    JackHark Active Member

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    I guess you are right in that it boils down to the adage that "to each their own". Meaning that whatever you want/can put up with, is what is right for you.
     

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