[TBH]

I've thought about this too but I've realized I really don't know enough about it, and I'm not handy enough to fix stuff myself, so I think it's not the right time. Also, I could probably scrape together the money for a down payment but only at the expense of other, more important savings goals.

The most likely scenario where we'd become landlords is if we moved out of our house for some reason (to move to another city, to trade up, whatever). Our house would make a great rental because we could cover the mortgage easily with the going rent rates, and still have a cushion to pay for repairs, taxes, vacancies, etc. I don't think I'd care too much about having positive cash flow from the rent. I'd be satisfied if it paid for itself and if it was slowly appreciating in value and slowly paying down my mortgage.