Seeking Areas to Invest In Away From Home.

Real Estate Agent · Myrtle Beach · Member since 2019 · 14 posts · 6 votes

Hello all!

I'm from Long Island, New York (Suffolk county) where it is nearly impossible to start as an investor in real estate due to astronomical house prices and even higher taxes. I am fortunate enough to have a large amount of capital and I want to get started investing in places away from Long Island. I am just looking for cities/towns where there's a market for real estate preferably in North/South Carolina, Virginia, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and maybe even states on the west coast. If anyone has any insight please feel free to share. I plan to take a trip to wherever appears to be a promising area and would gladly treat you to a steak dinner (lol).

Thank you BP community!

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Tom Ott

Equity Raiser and Turnkey Provider · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes

Originally posted by @Eric Brust:

Mid-markets in the Midwest always bring the best investment. Places like Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo are great because they are not flooded with investors yet. Plenty of room to find a good property!

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Jaysen Medhurst
Rental Property Investor · Greenwich, CT · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
6y
Hi, @Eric Brust, I focus on SE CT and think there are some good opportunities there. Central and Eastern PA have very approachable prices. My BIL has a few SFRs in Roanoke, VA and is doing pretty well with them.
Real question is where do you have "boots on the ground?"
1 Reply
Noah Scott
Real Estate Agent · West Chester, PA · Member since 2017 · 83 posts · 42 votes
6y
What type of investing are you interested in? This may help you get more detailed responses.
- Residential/Commercial?
- A certain purchase price you're looking to stay within?
- Are you against certain markets (looking to invest in A class/B/C?)
- Long-term buy and hold? BRRRR? Flipping? Syndication?
Nailing down some of these pieces will help us out give you better answers.
0 Reply
Mitch Messer
Lender · Playa del Carmen, México · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
6y
Hi @Eric Brust and welcome to BiggerPockets!
While we're still very active in the Atlanta market, we've recently added certain cities in some of the Sun Belt states (esp. Texas, New Mexico, Nevada) and the Midwest (like Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin) to the menu.
Speaking of which, I'm a fool for a great ribeye and I'm not at all opposed to talking real estate with a mouth full of steak fries!
1 Reply
Michael Doherty
Real Estate Agent · West Hartford, CT · Member since 2016 · 449 posts · 476 votes
6y
@Eric Brust Hey Eric, if Connecticut is on your radar I would consider towns like New Britain, Manchester and Middletown. I own property there and the cash flow is great relative to other markets. It can be very street by street dependent but if cash flow is your goal, and your comfortable with C class neighborhoods with upside potential, definitely consider those towns. Let me know if I can be of any help.
1 Reply
Steve RozenbergPro Member
Specialist · Houston, TX · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
6y
@Eric Brust I think there are a lot of great areas around the country as well as internationally. I think a better question is the one that you ask to yourself as to what areas align with your goals and has the right strategy to achieve that. If you ask people if they like or do not like they will give you their thoughts based on their own goals and strategies. Which is not bad, but you want to always make sure that these strategies are for you not the person and their perspective. Ask 1,000 people get 1,200 answers and they are all different.
I suggest figure out what your end goal is as a result of owning real estate and then work it backwards. Last thing is the area and the actual house, the goal and strategy I think are most vital and yet most missed.
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Eric Brust
OP
Real Estate Agent · Myrtle Beach · Member since 2019 · 14 posts · 6 votes
6y
Hi @Jaysen Medhurst, appreciate the response. Currently I don't have boots on the ground in any place. Of course I don't know any area as well as my home but i wasn't opposed to taking an extended business trip (about 2 weeks) to any areas that seem promising. Using zillow and other websites, I saw homes for sale in places like North/South Carolina, Virginia and Florida for 85,000 and less.
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Eric Brust
OP
Real Estate Agent · Myrtle Beach · Member since 2019 · 14 posts · 6 votes
6y
Hi @Noah Scott I'm looking into residential since I'm just looking to get started in real estate. I would like to stay under the $75,000 range because I can purchase multiple homes in that range with cash. I'm definitely not opposed to any markets and my main goal is to buy and hold. Any other pointers are greatly appreciated!

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Remington LymanBusiness Member
Real Estate Agent · Columbus, OH · Member since 2017 · 6k+ posts · 7k+ votes
6y
@Eric Brust I would recommend checking out Columbus, Ohio!
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Patrick D Green
Contractor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2016 · 10 posts · 9 votes
6y
@Eric Brust as a resident, project manger and contractor I may be biased but Philadelphia is a great choice. Come for the cheesesteak stay for the real estate lol
1 Reply
Account Closed
Real Estate Broker · Columbus, OH · Member since 2019 · 119 posts · 151 votes
6y
@Eric Brust I second the Columbus, Ohio market. We're watching major tech companies like Google and Facebook spend hundreds of millions of dollars on new data centers, Nationwide, Chase, CoverMyMeds, and Ohio State have a huge footprint here as well, and that doesn't even include the half-a-dozen other fortune 500 companies. It's a competitive market with a lot of upside where your dollar can go a long way. Worth a look! Best of luck!
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William J. Morgan
Rental Property Investor · Roanoke, VA · Member since 2017 · 34 posts · 3 votes
6y
Eric, I myself am from Roanoke, Va and am just getting started out as an investor I can tell you all you need to know about Roanoke and what areas you need to look in and what areas to avoid! I can be your boots on the ground, any information I can help you with!!!
0 Reply
Tom Ott
Equity Raiser and Turnkey Provider · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
6y
Originally posted by @Eric Brust:
Hello all!

I'm from Long Island, New York (Suffolk county) where it is nearly impossible to start as an investor in real estate due to astronomical house prices and even higher taxes. I am fortunate enough to have a large amount of capital and I want to get started investing in places away from Long Island. I am just looking for cities/towns where there's a market for real estate preferably in North/South Carolina, Virginia, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and maybe even states on the west coast. If anyone has any insight please feel free to share. I plan to take a trip to wherever appears to be a promising area and would gladly treat you to a steak dinner (lol).

Thank you BP community!

Mid-markets in the Midwest always bring the best investment. Places like Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo are great because they are not flooded with investors yet. Plenty of room to find a good property!
2 Reply
Kevin Pingo
Rental Property Investor · Yonkers, NY · Member since 2018 · 14 posts · 0 votes
6y
@Michael Doherty hey mike would love to connect looking in those cities
0 Reply
Kevin Pingo
Rental Property Investor · Yonkers, NY · Member since 2018 · 14 posts · 0 votes
6y
@Patrick D Green hey pat would love to link up with u.
0 Reply
Ryan AllisonPro Member
Investor · Connecticut / Massachusetts · Member since 2019 · 65 posts · 38 votes
6y
Eric, I agree with Mike those CT towns have good cash flow and good upside potential. Unfortunately the CT marketplace has shown little to no appreciation which stinks but the cash flow in the towns Mike mentioned is typically good.... with that said you will not find something under $75K there that isn't a complete gut.
If youre exploring other markets, the midwest has a low barrier to entry since their properties (& taxes) are significantly lower than in the Northeast.
1 Reply
Account Closed
Rental Property Investor · Brooke Park Drive · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
6y
Many to choose from. Personally from expensive Wash DC area I’m investing in Toledo, OH, Quad Cities, IA, and Oklahoma City, OK.

If you are interested in Pennsylvania check out a recent post by Cory Iannacone who is crushing it in Harrisburg.
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Adam Bingham
Member since 2019 · 4 posts · 0 votes
6y
@William J. Morgan I am very interested in hearing more about what areas to look in a partner and I are currently in Oregon but we are doing a BRRRR in Birmingham Alabama and open to other areas. Do you know of any good contractors and property managers
0 Reply
Cassi Justiz
Rental Property Investor · Edmond, OK · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
6y
Hey @Eric Brust,
I read a few of your responses and I would suggest looking into the Midwest. I'm based out of OKC and see investors have success using a few different strategies. You certainly could buy 75k properties in cash, OR you could buy these same properties using conventional financing. You could also use your cash to leverage into higher end properties. It really just depends on what your goals are. You can get better returns with cheaper properties, but these are typically older properties and in areas with traditionally less appreciation. The best value are going to be cheaper properties that need some work. They require more effort, but you will also get more cashflow. On the other end of the spectrum you can go with new/newer construction homes in highly desirable areas. You sacrifice some initial cashflow, but you get a home that will theoretically require minimal cap-ex for the next 5-10 years and some investors feel better investing in these homes because of the potential for appreciation. You also get more tax benefits from the higher priced properties if that's something you are looking at.
I would look at what your goals are and work backwards. Do you want turn-key or do you want fixer-uppers with higher returns? Do you want to leverage your cash or are you okay with parking it with decent returns? Do you care about appreciation or do you just want cashflow? Do the tax benefits matter to you at all?
0 Reply
William J. Morgan
Rental Property Investor · Roanoke, VA · Member since 2017 · 34 posts · 3 votes
6y

@Adam Bingham, I know of some contractors around Roanoke which have really good reputations, they are probably are top of the line on cost to be honest. As far as property managers, I personally do not know of any but if you go to DamonGettier.net he is a local real estate agent/investor here in Roanoke who also owns his own property company and from what I have seen they offer their services to other investors as well!!
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Alyssa Dyer
Rental Property Investor · Oklahoma City, OK · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 694 votes
6y
@Eric Brust are you hoping for cash flow or appreciation? I understand sticking to the coasts, but it might not be the best time in the market cycle?
0 Reply
Joe Chirdon
Real Estate Agent · Harrisburg, PA · Member since 2016 · 159 posts · 82 votes
6y
Check out the central PA market (Camp Hill, Hummelstown, Hershey, Lemoyne, etc).
0 Reply
Jaysen Medhurst
Rental Property Investor · Greenwich, CT · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
6y
I just got back from there, @Joe Chirdon. I think there's a ton of opportunity in that part of the state. Did hear some grumblings from my FIL about rent controls going into place in Carlisle. Might just be FIL grumblings, though...
1 Reply
Jaysen Medhurst
Rental Property Investor · Greenwich, CT · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
6y
@William J. Morgan and @Adam Bingham, my BIL uses Grandin Agency and is happy with them.
0 Reply
William J. Morgan
Rental Property Investor · Roanoke, VA · Member since 2017 · 34 posts · 3 votes
6y
@Jaysen Medhurst do they use them as property managers ?
0 Reply
Basit SiddiqiBusiness Member
Accountant · New York, NY · Member since 2015 · 8k+ posts · 3k+ votes
6y
@Eric Brust

There are many people who live in Long Island or New York City(high cost areas) and successfully invest long distance.

You may want to consider attending a local real estate networking event where you can chat with investors and see where they are investing in.
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