A Wise Investment?

For some time now I have had the means available to me to buy a house. The idea of buying somewhere has always seemed to be absurd to me as I have no desire to settle down yet. However it appears that it is still a good time to buy. At the same time new possibilities and options are now opening up for me, one of which is buying to rent.

With the added option of privately renting the property I would be potentially able to make a small monthly profit after making any mortgage repayments. This could also be done without necessarily shafting any tenants.

If I was to exclusively rent to friends only, then I could be relatively safe in the knowledge that my investment would be looked after. 

Like any investment there will of course be risks involved but in a potential worst case scenario of not being able to find any tenants which seems to be quite unlikely, I could just live in the property myself. it is certainly something which I think deserves more thought.