Multi-Family Housing Is A Viable Yet Overlooked Path For Home Ownership

There are a ton of doubles and 4 plexes all around South City St Louis. But they're typically not owned by one person renting out the other side. Most of them are owned by people that don't live in them and rent out all the units.

A lot of times it's the same person that owns multiple on the same block or in the same neighborhood.

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Far too many prospective buyers overlook multifamily properties and only search for Single Family homes.

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Older cities like Chicago or Philadelphia (even New Orleans) have a ton of these in their housing inventory, but the sunbelt cities generally don't have very much to offer. For the most part - very few flats and condos are being built for sale outside of the major housing markets. Most are rentals.

Otherwise you are right that duplexes or townhomes would be a very good home for first time buyers as well as empty nesters looking to downsize.

A 2 bedroom condo with a decent patio and garage would be a solid choice for first time home buyers. That's especially the case in areas where new single family homes are expensive and mobile homes aren't allowed.

What a terrible way to live.

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Yep I'd love my neighbor whacking my wall every time a child or dog does child or dog things

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They aren't just a neighbor. They are a tenant. You aren't peers.

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Yep I'd love my neighbor whacking my wall every time a child or dog does child or dog things

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As opposed to the exact same thing happening except you are renting?

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As opposed to the exact same thing happening except you are renting?

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Exactly...this idiot thought he had a zinger

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A 2 bedroom condo with a decent patio and garage would be a solid choice for first time home buyers.

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You have to be careful here because some of these come with bad strings attached like escalating HOA fees, bad management, crazy assessments to add a new roof, etc.

You may not save money over renting or buying an overinflated fixer-upper.

There are good options out there but you better do your homework and not get suckered in by the reward of being a "homeowner".

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fixer-upper.

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We could solve a big part of the housing prices if our cities (of all sizes) were safer and there were less risk in taking on a fixer upper in struggling neighborhood.

There are too many "no go" zones in American cities. If we could deal with the crime problem, we could make a lot of areas that are already built more attractive. And the people that already own in those areas would benefit greatly.

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Multi family is a great way to collect extra income to increase buying power and cover mortgage.

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If the topic of rentals comes up (the fact that I have them) with most people I meet, they do not have a positive view of being a landlord. I think most people are frightened of stories about nightmare tenants, lawyers, and confrontation in general. It ain't for everybody.

Besides, if someone can't qualify for the median priced SF house (as Stout discusses above), they are not gonna qualify for a MF.

I've thought North Dallas Indian style homes could be the future. One big house with multiple suites so multiple generations can live together but also have privacy and their own space.