Gypsy Real Estate Investing
Gypsy real estate investing is a great way to build a strong rental portfolio. My wife and I started our real estate investing this way by accident. We had a house built and had lived in it for a few years when we decided to move. I had just finished real estate school and received my realtor’s license. While attending real estate school, I met a mortgage broker who introduced me to real estate investing. I decided to research lease options and liked what I found, so I decided to give it a try. We decided to move and do a lease option on our house instead of selling it. After we moved, we acquired a couple of other properties that we lease optioned also. During this time, we kept looking for another great deal on a house for us to live in. When we found one we wanted to buy, we moved and lease optioned the one we had been living in instead of selling it.
The strategy is to find a great deal on a house to live in that gives you a better interest rate and smaller down payment. Live in the house long enough to find another great deal on a new house that you can move into, and then rent out the house you move out of. You can buy ready-to-move-in properties, or you can buy properties that need a little work. You can then work on fixing the house up while you are looking for another great deal.
One thing with this strategy that helped us be successful is to not be in a hurry to find the next deal. We were able to acquire other properties using creative terms in between each move, which helped.
Of all the properties that we have owned and rented out, or lease optioned, the ones we lived in before renting them out have brought us by far the largest returns. Obviously, you have to be okay with moving that often. But if you have a long-term plan, you can create a very profitable passive income using the gypsy method.
