Hello, I’m looking to invest in a vacation property for the first time on the west coast (I’ve bought property before but they were my primary residence). I would ideally rent it out on AirBnB to help cover the mortgage and use it for vacation getaways myself. Doesn’t need to be too fancy or too big of a cabin.
The problem is I’m on the west coast where property is really expensive and I only have $50k in cash to use right now. I’m looking for advice on my three options below:
Buy a piece of land where I could buy it now with cash and not have a loan. Then take my time to build something on it overtime. I know I’d have to look into zoning/utilities.
Use it as a downpayment now ($250k price point) for a really cheap fixer upper and renovate it. At least I have an existing structure then, but it could take time to renovate while I’m eating the mortgage cost. Even fixer uppers are rare at this price though.
Wait until I can build up my savings to $120k where I can buy an already renovated turn key cabin ($600k price for a good one/location). It already took long to get $50k another $70k seems daunting. I also don’t know if at that price and interest rate if a STR makes financial sense.
Each seems to have pros and cons. Curious what the experts think since I’m new to this! Thank you!