BootsnAll Travel Community

Does anyone here use real estate to fund there travel addiction? Have you had any pros or cons that you could suggest.

Thought about it...

I assume your talking about buying an apartment/house and renting it out? Long distance with an agent taking a percentage of the proceeds...

Havent done it! Maybe someone else can help...

something similar to that...

I've thought about it.
Because house values always go up you can turn around a tidy profit on a house.
I was saying in another thread a friend of mine recently sold his condo that he had bought 5 years ago and because the value had gone up so much where he lives he made 100,000 dollars on the deal.
I can't even comprehend what a fantastic trip you could have with that kind of money.
But it does take time for a house to build value and morgage, property tax, renovations are all expensive so it's something you have to put a lot of time and effort into.
Unless you get a house, rent it out and use that until the house is accrued enough value, then sell it for a profit. But you gotta understand that renters are not always available and if they wern't then you'd be stuck with the bill. Or if they defulted on the lease you could end up screwed.

So it's something to look into but only if you have the time and money to put into it.

Never done it myself, but I've met several people who have. If you own the house free and clear, this can be a great way to fund a perpetual trip.

One Canadian guy I met a few years back was getting a modest $1,200 income from a rental property (fully paid off). Not sure how much he paid in agency fees, property taxes, insurance, etc., but let's assume 30%. That alone left him with about $850/month to travel with. He said he lived on about $600/month in Asia. Plus he had pensions, social security, etc.

He said he traveled because it was actually cheaper for him to travel than to live at home. I thought it was great. I seems like a great way to retire if you can actually pay off a house or two during your working life.

Thought about this, with the real estate bubble currently forming over the east coast. Could have it's drawbacks. Say you rent and someone destroys the place while your away, or something breaks, and you have to direct the repairs from afar. Could be a problem, but I'd say check it out.

If one could keep buying and selling property...then...problems solved.

This is what I have done and I leave for our first major trip soon. I believe my properties will be taken care of while I am gone, but if something comes up I would like to know how other people have delt with it. If anyone has experience with this I would love to hear your experience.

I lived in an apt building owned by a man, who, I think, is doing what you are planning on doing (travelling through real estate investement). I think he owns about 4 or 5 buildings and lives off the rent money, he was in central or south america when i rented from him. he came back to the states, maybe once a year, when the leases were up for renewal. there was an older gentlemen who collected the rent, made the repairs, took care of problems, etc. from what i could tell it was working pretty well for him.