Choosing your market for new investors

[Gal Dagan]

Hello everyone,

My wife and I are new to real estate investing and are ready to take the plunge. We live in the greater Chicago area and are starting to wrap our heads around market analysis, which feels like a crucial first step.

We're currently debating whether to focus our initial efforts on the local Chicago market and start by managing the property ourselves,or look into opportunities out of state and use a property maneger.

We'd be incredibly grateful for any advice on How do you approach market analysis as a beginner? and if it is advisable to invest out of state for your first property?

[Steve K.]

I started off investing within 1 hour of my home, and now after many years of investing, I won't buy anything more than 20 minutes away. 

Of the folks who I have known who invest remotely, I'd say 9 out of 10 of them have failed and lost money then sold at a loss or were lucky to break even (and that was with very favorable market conditions, low interest rates, a time where most markets had steep appreciation etc.). The 1 out of 10 who succeeded bought in markets that they had previously lived in and/or still have deep connections in like a family member living nearby or actually living in the property. 

It's definitely not impossible, but much harder and much higher risk to invest in real estate remotely. So if you can make it work at all within 20 minutes of where you live, I'd do that!