Ask Paula - Should I Sell Stocks to Buy a Rental Property

#130: Anna and Dave want to get married … eventually. But they want to buy a rental property together first. How should they approach this from a paperwork/legal structure standpoint?

Note: They’re thinking about having one partner purchase the home, with the other partner acting as a lender (with proper paperwork in place). Would this be a wise approach?

Fred lives in Saskatchewan, Canada and owns two duplexes. He’s thinking of buying rental properties in the U.S., and he has 4 questions:

1. What requirements or criteria do you establish ahead of time? For example, do you look for a minimum cap rate? Or a specific type of property?
2. When you’re looking out-of-state, what steps do you take to identify a community? How about the type of property?
3. What market research do you undertake?
4. How would you caution an international investor who wants to start investing in U.S. properties?

Jordana wants to build financial independence. She’s thinking about selling off stocks and index funds in order to buy her first rental property. Is this a good idea?

Cheryl lives in Texas, where property taxes are astronomical. How should she factor this into her rental property decisions?

Rachel is worried about bed begs. (Yuck!) Have I dealt with these in any of my rental properties? How do I protect against pests, termites and roaches?

I tackle these five questions in today’s episode, which is dedicated to rental property investing. Enjoy!

P.S. Need software to manage your rental properties? Collect applications, screen tenants, and collect rent online with Cozy.co/Paula.

(And P.P.S. — If you’re not interested in rental investing, don’t worry! Check out last week’s episode about debt payoff with Laura Adams, or the previous week’s episode, in which Joe Saul-Sehy and I answer a smattering of general personal finance questions. Have fun!)

For more information, visit the show notes at http://affordanything.com/episode130

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