By 
I am very biased in favor of owning a rental, so my short answer is “yes”. Read on to find out why I love being a rental owner and I think everyone should.
There are many reasons to maintain rental properties, including:
- get incredible tax benefits (deductions and depreciation) while owning
- tenants pay your mortgages for you
- when the property is free and clean, you have significant passive income for life
If you rehab and resell an investment property, you make a quick profit. However, Uncle Sam takes about 1/3 and you have to go out and do it all over again.
The goal, while maintaining the rents, is for them to pay enough rent to cover the cost of ownership and maintenance until they are paid. If you buy well, this should not be a problem. However, there are areas of the country where mortgages are higher than rents can cover. Know your local market.
The glory of having rental properties comes when they are paid for. There are ways to speed up amortization so that you can pay them off in no more than 10 years, and at that point, you’ll never have to worry about working to pay your bills again.
A free and clear rental property is good, 10 is incredible, for a retirement that most Americans can only dream of.
So what are some of the downsides to owning rentals?
- They usually cost money until paid. If your cash flow is only $ 300 per month, you will spend it on vacancies and maintenance; often you will spend more.
- Tenure problems. Many investors think that renters don’t deserve the hassle of owning property. I disagree, but North Carolina is an owner-friendly state. Many states, like New York, are more renter-friendly, which can cost landlords a lot of time and money.
- Managing takes time (if you manage your own properties) or costs money (if you hire a property management company). I use property management companies because managing properties does not generate income.
Ultimately, the decision is up to the individual investor, but I highly recommend the value of owning rentals. For today, they give generous tax breaks while I still have mortgages on them. For retirement, it is continuous and indefinite income because the mortgages are canceled.
There’s no way you can earn enough on a 40-hour-per-week W2 job to save enough for the kind of retirement income that paid rental properties will produce. And I don’t have social security or health insurance to be enough to take care of me in my old age.
Do you believe in rental properties? What can you add to the list of pros and cons?