EEVblog 1430 - Rent vs Buy - My $400,000 MISTAKE!

[EEVblog]

Actually inspected a house nearby today that's for sale.
Bit of a "lipstick on a pig", but it had a nice 68sqm garage that is currently half fitted out as a nice office.
I thought it might be a nice asset play in that I could rent the house out and potentially use the garage as the lab. Or rent out both separately until such time as I need a bigger space.
Dunno.

[nctnico]

I'd talk to people who rent houses and see what their experiences are regarding cost of maintenance and dealing with tennants. That should give some idea on what to expect. At some point my wife wanted to start a lunchroom so we talked to various owners of similar businesses to get a better understanding on how to run such a business.

[f4eru]

"Money flushed down the drain" ?
Some do it litterally :

https://www.wsj.com/articles/flush-with-cash-500-bank-notes-sent-down-the-drain-1505756109

[CatalinaWOW]

I'd talk to people who rent houses and see what their experiences are regarding cost of maintenance and dealing with tenants. That should give some idea on what to expect. At some point my wife wanted to start a lunchroom so we talked to various owners of similar businesses to get a better understanding on how to run such a business.

Those considering renting property should definitely talk to a few folks who have done it on a similar scale.  I have done a tiny bit, and have several family members and friends who have gotten involved.  The experience can range from profitable and trouble free down to an absolute money losing nightmare.  In the sample I have contact with the average is on the nightmare side.  Failure to pay rent, or requirement for repeated nagging to get rent payments, willful property destruction, disappearance with theft of fixtures, nuisance calls (light bulb burned out -needs middle of the night replacement) and many more adventures. 

YMMV but it is not a path for everyone.

[EEVblog]

Turns out it was a lipstick on an old pig, so we passed on it, and it was passed in at auction. Relisted for a stupid amount of money.

[nctnico]

Some people pay stupid money so likely the house will get sold. Near where I live there is a house which is basically build from materials used to erect warehouse buildings. They called it an 'industrial look'. It was up for sale a couple of years ago so I saw some internal photos as well. It looked even worse from the inside than on the outside. Curtains instead of doors and no ceilings. They where asking >600k euro and I think they got it in the end.

[EEVblog]

Some people pay stupid money so likely the house will get sold.

Quite likely!

[SeanB]

Estate agent friend does a rental book. Does mean a lot of work, and a lot of ad hoc repairs on various things, mostly plumbing, doors and window repairs, but also replacing electrical things and checking before letting that every single socket and lamp works, and is documented as such. Has meant I am getting pretty experienced as a plumber, and am buying a lot of PEX pipe, plus a lot of digging out of drains and replacing broken subsoil pipe as well, plus replacing century old rotted out steel pipe. Painting and plaster work as well, along with gates, garages and fences.