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What are the pros and cons of buying a house just to rent it out?
You should absolutely go for it, and I encourage you to look for multi-unit (up to 4) properties if there are any in your area.  With nulti-unit properties it is far more common than not that the other units pay the mortgage. To comment on your point about slowly building an asset if the renter covers the payment; that's true, but you're also missing the fact that you get to write off the interest on your income taxes, that's another great benefit. If you intend to make a habit out of being a landlord, I highly encourage you to use a property management company.  Most charge less than 10% and will handle all of the tough stuff for you, like:  fielding sob stories from tenants, evicting tenants, finding new tenants, checking to make sure the property is maintained...  It's worth it. There fees are also tax-deductible... It makes a boat load of sense.  Just look at the world around you.  How many wealthy people rent???  I've met one, but they own investment properties though...