To invest in your local market or not?

Question

Hi All,

I live in the greater Austin area and am gathering information to eventually jump into investing. My dilemma is that I read a lot about people saying to understand your local market. I am a lender in Austin, dealing with primarily SFH’s.

Austin is extremely competitive in SFH and even more so in the multi family space. My preference would be investing in multi family homes, but given the above- would it make more sense to look outside the Austin market and go for multi family homes or start in the Austin area with SFH’s?

Thanks in advance!

Joe Villeneuve · Answer

Knowing your own market is important, but what you do with that knowledge is more important. Many REI say you should invest in your own market because you know it. That's wrong. That's backwards. You should know the market you invest in.

Just because you know a market, doesn't mean you should invest there. In fact, if that knowledge tells you that market is a bad market to invest in, them don't invest there. This especially applies to "your own market".

Michael Lewis Lee · Answer

Hello Aaron! I agree with Joe, your first responder. I think you should invest within about an hour from your home. The only way to invest farther is to invest with a Turnkey Company with a good reputation and experience including property management or someone that you trust, really trust.

Good luck to you!

Jordan Moorhead · Answer

@Aaron Kovac do you currently own? If not start by househacking a mfh in Austin.

Aaron Gordy · Answer

Turnkey is akin to a jack of all trades and master of none, imo. Maybe there are some good ones out there. Idk. I know that I outsource things that I am not an expert at. For example, I will outsource electrical issues to an master electrician because I don't want to get shocked... : ) There are nuances that occur regularly within each specialty that only those specialized in that area can navigate well.

Aaron Kovac · Answer

@Michael Lewis Lee

Thanks Michael! I suppose Googling these turnkey companies is easiest, but is there any other recommended place you suggest looking for solid turnkey companies?

Aaron Kovac · Answer

@Jordan Moorhead

I do own currently. I just bought a SFH in an Austin suburb in July... before learning what house hacking entails. Otherwise, I probably would have looked into something along those lines.

Thanks for the input!

Joe Villeneuve · Answer

That's not what I said

Aaron Kovac · Answer

@Joe Villeneuve

Joe, thank you for the thought provoking feedback. I appreciate the insight and will definitely take that into consideration moving forward!

To invest in your local market or not?

To invest in your local market or not?

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