When you enter the world of real estate investing, your investment portfolio may include anything from your having ownership in a portion of a commercial property, or a single storage space out in the backyard of your residential property. There are many types of rental properties to invest with, so when you start out as an investor, you might consider buying one or two residential rental apartment homes. Here are some types of properties you might consider buying to rent as a residential income property and some tips to help you know what to expect.

Single Family Home

A single family home is a great property to start out with as a rental property, especially when you are starting out as an investor. There are many reasons for this.

First, a single-family home is attractive to renters as you can acquire and rent out a property with a fenced-in yard, which offers benefits to renters with children and pets. A private fenced-in yard is something that other types of rental properties don't provide. And with a single family rental home, you only have to manage one tenant with your property versus several different ones if you were to buy a duplex or triplex.

Be sure to look for and buy a single family home that has multiple bedrooms and one to two bathrooms. This type of home is one in which you can market to a larger demographic of renters, which helps you rent it more easily.

Multi-Family Apartment Building

When you want to increase your rental income potential you may want to look at a multi-family rental property. A multi-family rental can consist of a duplex, tri-plex, four-plex, or a building with more units.

A multi-unit property is a great way to increase your rental income potential because as it is one single property with many rentals included with it, your overhead costs are less and your rents are multiplied. For example, you only have to maintain one yard around the building, you can hire one property management firm to handle the management tasks, you have one mortgage, and you pay one water bill for the building.

Your mortgage payment compared to the rent you collect on all the units is more likely to produce positive cash flow in a multi-unit apartment complex than with a single family home. And because all the tenant activity of moving into and out of the property all takes place at one location, you're able to save money on travel.

If you're looking to buy your own investment property to rent out, consider a single-family home or apartments to get the benefits with less of the headache. 

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