Being a landlord is mostly profitable when two things are true: 1. You can maintain the property in question for less than the market rate. 2. You bought the

Being a landlord is mostly profitable when two things are true: 1. You can maintain the property in question for less than the market rate. 2. You bought the property for less than the current market rate. I looked into this in detail, talking with a realtor who very much wanted me to buy a second home to rent out, and determined that while the rental might be profitable a few years down the road--assuming I could keep it fully occupied and didn't end up with any "problem renters," even then it almost certainly would be more profitable to put the same capital outlay into the stock market, with the added advantages of liquidity and no renter headaches. Most individual landlords are renting out houses they have already owned for a few years, so their mortgage is not based on today's price, and that is where their profit margin primarily comes from.