Duplex / Triplex Advice

Unless you are uber hardcore about being a property manager and getting into real estate, as a property manager my recommendation would be to not buy a duplex/ triplex.

In your situation I’d do what I tell most single people to do, buy a house and get a roommate. For one, good deals on single family homes are easier to find but more importantly easier to sell. If you get transferred to North Dakota do you still want a duplex? Someone will argue against this and that’s fine, but selling a single family home is considerably easier and the market is not set on the rental income. Generally the only people interested in multi unit properties are investors and they are only going to pay a price based on a return. Also generally your selling time frame will be considerably more for a mult family unit.

A single family will be market based on sales.

With a single family you can still have a roommate or 2 or 3 and still have them pay a huge portion if not all of your mortgage. Sure they live with you, but there are plenty of set ups where you have an entire floor to yourself. And that’s really the only negative. The other benefit of being gone so much having a roommate will keep a better eye on your stuff.

If you are in a big city multi families make more sense as you likely wouldn’t have a single family anyway. Otherwise, I’d stay away until you have more experience. Just my 2 cents.

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It’s a good idea to subsidize your mortgage, but when you are gone you will need someone to manage the units for you

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right, unless he can get a housemate he can trust like baldona elaborated on. plenty of options regerdless