Deciding between Out of State Investing or a House Hack?

Deciding between Out of State Investing or a House Hack?

San Luis Obispo, CA · Member since 2019 · 11 posts · 7 votes

Hello Everybody,

I am an investor in search of my first deal.  I am a recent college grad with w-2 experience, a good savings, and a substantial income.  I am in the middle of the educational and personal finance section of getting started.  I read a lot, listen to podcasts often, research my area as well as others, and have a strict budget and savings goals.

I live on the Central Coast of California, where the average home price is close to a million dollars.  Ideally I would like to house hack to eliminate my rent expense and gain hands on experience managing my first property.  However, with home prices this high, it will be very difficult to find an affordable deal.  Even if I do, I am not sure how this will affect my future ability to get loans based on my debt/income ratio.

I have started to consider investing out of state.  I have done some research in several markets across the country that look appealing.  Even with continuing my rent expense, I would still be able to purchase about 1 property/year to get the ball rolling.

Does anyone have advice as far as what would be a wiser approach?  Thank you!

If you are an investor on the Central Coast or specialize in investing out of state, I would love to get in contact and learn more!

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Real Estate Agent · Kansas City · Member since 2018 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
4y

I would say house hack. Main reason is the appreciation bonus with that area. Long term wise it'd be a great investment that you can use to hold for 5-10 years or 1031 after a couple. In time if you held it you could tap into equity and use that for more deals. After you get a house hack you could look into buying an OOS property and start building a portfolio. 

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  • San Luis Obispo, CA · Member since 2019 · 11 posts · 7 votes
    4y

    @Daniel Toshev Thanks Daniel.  Have you pulled any equity from your house hack, or have you only bought OOS rentals with additional saved income?  I am just wondering if you are leveraging your house hack in any other way than saving on rent, which is still huge.  Thanks and feel free to DM if you'f like to talk more!

  • Investor · Los Angeles · Member since 2021 · 16 posts · 10 votes
    4y

    I was in a similar boat a while back, contemplating whether to buy locally in Los Angeles and house hack, or buy a property out of state.  For a first time investor or simply home owner, I would strongly encourage anyone to start with house hack locally so you can learn what it takes to manage a property, build small network of handy man, sub contractors, do small upgrades if necessary, and have a full hands on experience.  Of course that out of state investment is also a great strategy, but you have to understand what you are doing first, gain confidence and that will pave the way to a more successful out of state investing strategy and experience.  That's my subjective opinion

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