Thinking of buying a 3bd Townhouse or Condo, since they’d be ~300k vs 450k for a single family.

Plan to rent it out, and put 20% down. I’d rent out the townhome or condo for about 1900 a month vs a single family that would rent for 2100-2200.

Anyone think townhouse / condos are good investments?

They can be a little trickier than single family homes. They typically appreciate more slowly relative to SFH just given softer demand for more communal living amongst homeowners. HOAs can run the gamut on fees, rules, scope of responsibilities and even caps or restrictions on renting out, so be sure your ducks are in a row on that front before purchasing.

Otherwise, it generally follows the same cash flow considerations as any real estate.

Rent will barely cover the PITI on that townhome. You'll might break even with tax write offs and principal paydown each month, but you'll have negative cashflow for years.

Scratch that, I was using Texas numbers. You'll have a little more wiggle room, but even as a real estate investor I'd rather throw that $60k into the markets than a townhome.

I'm not interested in any property meant to be a single source of income.

A vacancy in a duplex, triplex, etc still allows you to cover the mortgage during vacancy. if its single family, that mortgage is coming out of your pocket to you get it filled. Also, if you go the condo route, you're at the mercy of HOA fees. That said, buying a condo in the right location can be an all but guaranteed revenue stream.

Would love to do duplex, but I don’t live in an area where I can afford those here. DTI would be too high. Right now

A 30 year fixed for 260k right now according to google mortgage calculator would be about $1150 a month, with tax insurance and HOA, it’ll probably be about $1400 a month. So that seems to spine worth it if I can rent for $1800?

Check the comps of the properties and go from there

What are similar places renting for?

Is it a desirable area where you can attract good tenants and not chitheads?

It's fine to live in, but not a good investment

I've looked into condos in my area, but they go for what a 2 bedroom house goes for, and HOA fees are as high as $350 a month. Just not worth it around here.

There will be a bunch of foreclosures come Q4 of this year. I'd wait and try to pick one of those up instead.

As expected, people are clueless.

If you’re buying real estate for the purpose of renting out, and you’re in a remotely populated/HCOL area, a condo is a far better purchase.

You will have fixed maintenance of the exterior and landscape that is handled by the HOA. You will have a larger pool of possible tenants to choose from.

All around far less hassle and just as much upside, if not more.

Source: I own 6 of them.

It's market dependent brah.

My market is really slanted towards the large companies that own apartment complexes. Townhouses/condos are a horrible investment because rents are low and cost of ownership is high, and renters here typically have a low-credit score and are awful tenants. It's not uncommon for your HOA fee to be higher than your mortgage. We have a place up the road that costs around $100k for a 1200sq ft condo, but the HOA is $650/month. They're like year-long timeshares.

Most HOAs here also cap the amount of units that can be rented at a certain time, and it's the "good old boy" system when it comes to allowing owners to rent.

YMMV but be sure you're doing your research on HOA rules when it comes to renting.