Finding a Location

I am a new investor and need advice in choosing "where" to invest. Everything is composed of little steps and I think the first step I should make is determining how to pick "where" I want to start investing. In the future I would like to invest anywhere in the country, but because I am a novice, I would like to stick with local, driving distance (within 1 hour) areas.

I have just moved to Seattle and I am not familiar with the areas around Seattle. How should I start to look for locations to start investing?

Ray S.

Property Manager · houston, Texas

Pro Basic

31 posts
50 influence

Sep 06 '10, 10:51 PM

My expertise is single family dwellings -SFD. If your interested in that you should look at what assetts you bring to the table and exploit those as much as possible. For example in my case when I started, I had no money but a lot of construction experience, so naturally I became a rehabber . But in another example one of my students recently retired with significant cash assetts and he is buying a property that needs significant rehab and is flipping it to an owner occupant/rehabber and will make over 20% yield for the next 15 years.

Some things I would put at the top of my list if yoiu do SFD's. Stay in your own backyard. Stay in prices that work for blue collar workers. Do neighborhoods that are at least 20 years old and just focus on a few good neighborhoods. Never, never let others tell you the ARV, this is something you have to master. If you tell me more I can give better advice

Joe M.

Real Estate Investor · Hartville, Ohio

133 posts
3 awards
51 influence

Sep 06 '10, 11:38 PM

I chose to stay close to home for my first deals. I looked at areas that were no more than about a 20 minute drive from my house.

Then I narrowed the area down to neighborhoods that were sort of that in between buffer type neighborhood. This is a neighborhood that is not a war zone but not the upscale suberbs either. Some call these areas "blue collar" neighborhoods.

I also familiarized myself with local school ratings/reputation. Where I live just simply crossing the street from one school zone to the next can have a significant impact on the appraised value of the house.

Elisha Lowe

Homeowner · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

124 posts
1 award
50 influence

Sep 07 '10, 12:10 AM

Good replies. I had the same questions as far as where to invest. I am close to Delaware and NJ. I've decided to follow the strategies discussed above- sticking with what I know and that is Philadelphia. I am looking at properties less than 1 hour away. I've spent time in most of the neighborhoods where I am looking to buy. I refuse to buy a property that I would not want to live in. My target demographic are blue collar people as well.

Ray Lim

17 posts
1 award
50 influence

Sep 07 '10, 02:01 AM

Originally posted by Ray Sasser

If your interested in that you should look at what assetts you bring to the table and exploit those as much as possible. For example in my case when I started, I had no money but a lot of construction experience, so naturally I became a rehabber .

Thanks for the advice. However, I do not have any experience in construction or anything in that matter. I am pretty young with barely any work experience. Thus what I can offer is only time. And after time... cash.

Joe Dube

Real Estate Investor · Palm Harbor, Florida

78 posts
1 award
50 influence

Sep 16 '10, 04:34 AM

Hi Ray,

When I first started out I chose a town 20 minutes from my house. Then I drilled down and chose the best blue collar neighborhoods in that town. It turned out to be about 45,000 addressses that I maket to but I started in 1 subdivison first because there were block homes, no flood insurance required and a good mix of renters and home owners. I tried to make sure I was making offers on houses that a lot of people would want to buy. Makes sense right? Well, I've been investing since '02 or '03 & I still own 4 houses in that first subdivision. When I drive down those streets in that part of town I say to myself I made an offer on this one and that one and I flipped those 3 etc... I'm telling you this not to brag but help you see that if you become a big fish in a small pond it'll all work out.

Hope this helps...
Dubeman

Ray Lim

17 posts
1 award
50 influence

Sep 29 '10, 02:11 PM

I've been looking at the neighborhoods around me and I've been wondering where are all the jobs at? Are there any resources to help me find where big stable companies are with lots of employees.

In King country, WA the list I have gathered so far are:
Coke-Cola
Microsoft
Amazon
Boeing

The idea is for me to look at neighborhoods in proximity to these companies. Are there any other major sources of hiring?

CL Tang

Residential Real Estate Agent · Redmond, Washington

2 posts
1 award
50 influence

Oct 08 '10, 04:05 PM

Hi Ray. I am new to BP too and trying to network and learn a ton from other investors.

I think your list of big employers are pretty good, a few others come to mind:

University of Washington (probably the biggest employer in the state), located in Univ. District.

Expedia (Downtown Bellevue) & T-Mobile (Factoria)

Costco (Issaquah), Google (Seattle & Kirkland)

Charles Perkins

Landlord · Seattle, Washington

2,986 posts
18 awards
83 influence

Oct 08 '10, 05:51 PM

Ray there are quite a few large employers in the greater Seattle-Tacoma area. Here are some links that list a few.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Top-10-Jobs-in-Seattle

http://www.leapfroggroup.org/for_members/members_resources/regional_roll_outs/1277465/SeattleWA