Pat finished his two-day tour of Northern Colorado today checking out a dozen or so homes in various neighborhoods of Fort Collins. Early in the day, he ran across a nice place with a For Sale sign that wasn't on our lists, and when I looked it up online it looked very promising - a bit small but nice, with an enclosed back porch, fireplaces in the living room and den, and a decent kitchen. Not a single square foot of the despised wall-wall carpet either - all hard-surface.

Because much of the the flooring was laminate (not genuine hardwood) and the place lacked a basement, the idea occured to both of us that a place like this might make a good rental property. We've been thinking that kind of investment is a very attractive alternative to stocks and bonds as a parking place for retirement funds, as the financial markets appear to be poised teetering on the brink of the abyss.

This was a new idea, starting out in a home purchased for the purpose of becoming a rental. But it makes so much sense - we get to move on with our plans to relocate, we live in the investment house while we begin to realize modest appreciation and avoid paying rent, we have ample time with both of us in Fort Collins to find the place we really want to live in, and I can get on with whatever will come next for me career-wise. When we find the right place, we tidy up the first house and put it on the market for rent.


$239,000 can buy a pretty nice house in Fort Collins.

The house was ideally suited for rental really, low maintenance, with a slightly outdated but servicable kitchen, and those durable laminate floors. Small enough so as not to attract a big household full of destructive children...

But in the end, I think the concept was a little to new for us to act on with so little time to fully consider everything. Even though I was a little anxious that we might set the relocation in motion if we did move forward with this, now I wonder if we are missing a great opportunity by not following the inspiration to finally get ourselves in motion and out of the now year-long period of uncertainty and non-committment. By buying the rental property first, a whole range of issues are addressed, and I suspect places as well suited are not that easy to find.

---