I am going to be making my first investment purchase within the next 6 months. The hardest decision for me has been whether I buy, fix and rent or buy, fix and sell.
My parents are small time real estate investors (they hold other businesses or work elsewhere). I asked them for advice and they were very adamant: Buy, fix, rent. They argued that the real estate “game” is control, so the longer you control, the more you win. They also feel that selling to make money is too much of a hassle.
These opinions are very strong, but still, they do not have enough cash flow to make real estate investing a full time career.
I would love to make real estate investing a full time career at some point in my life, so I thought I’d get more opinions.
Is it better to make my very first purchase a buy, fix, rent or a buy, fix, sell?
Also, when should I consider buying land and building a new house?
Additional info: I live in the Hudson Valley, New York area. We are still experiencing decent increases in property value, but there are many houses that have been on the market for close to, or over a year. New houses seem to sell faster. A member of my family builds houses.