OOS people, how'd you do it?

Question

As an agent, I get a lot of OOS people looking at buying in my market -- St. Louis, MO.

I can't speak from experience when it comes to OOS investing, which seems challenging enough as it is, but a lot of them are doing it as their first investment. So my question to people who have succeeded in doing OOS investing, what do you recommend doing to start? What kind of support do you look for in an agent? What are the biggest challenges and how do you manage them? Do you do everything completely remotely?

Any insight that could help me better serve the OOS community would be greatly appreciated! Thanks to everyone in advance.

Jacob Peistrup · Answer

@Caleb Brown awesome advice, I've been thinking about making a list and explanations of the most popular areas people ask about who aren't familiar with the area

Alice Huang · Answer

@Jacob Peistrup

Hey Jacob,

As an OOS investor, a lot of the times, we will go for a market where we have a solid team.

Growth and solid CoC is great, but all meaningless if I cannot get a team together.

In order to win business as an agent, comparing to the rest of the country, I’d offer value and the investor’s lives easier by having that team ready:

1- GC

2- Property Manager

3- Lender

4- the deal finder (you)

Right now, I’m in Montreal and my business partner is in San Antonio. Our biggest struggle is GC. If you can solve the problems for your investors, you’ll be closing deals with ease.

All the best and feel free to PM me if you have more questions.

Best,

Alice

Stone Saathoff · Answer

@Jacob Peistrup If I'm dealing with someone who isn't seriously interested in my market (San Antonio, TX), I usually do not spend too much time talking to them. Someone who is considering every market in the country has a less than 5% chance of turning into business for you.

The out of state buyers I've worked with (and there have only been a handful so far, but they have turned into repeat business), had all invested before either here or elsewhere, and were not considering every other market in the nation.

I'm always very transparent and honest about rehab costs, rent rates, ARV's. Once we do a deep analysis on a couple of deals together, and they can see and feel that all my numbers are accurate multiple times, it becomes easy to grow the relationship and actually get offers in / close deals.

Jacob Peistrup · Answer

@Stone Saathoff A lot of the people who come to me are in the process of determining which market to get into, which I imagine is a lot to deal with when you have the whole country to choose from. Sometimes they choose St. Louis, sometimes they choose other markets with different statistics.

Most are also doing it for the first time. Do you have a lot of first timers? How do you help them through the analysis paralysis with OOS and actually choosing a market, neighborhood, and property to buy at the end of the day?

Stone Saathoff · Answer

The trust and relationships you form are huge. I've only had a few out of state clients, but all of them came to me prepared and asked the right questions. Have a strategy in mind. Ask for references. Let them know you're serious.

My out of state guys that ended up succeeding in finding a great deal through me replied to my property release emails, they called me at least every couple days to ask what new deals were coming out, and ultimately we were able to find a great fit. Wasn't an overnight process with either of them, I believe we took around 3 weeks from our introduction to contracting the first deal.

Jacob Peistrup · Answer

@Alex Olson Thank you! I'll definitely have to read that book too to get some insight

Caleb Brown · Answer

Biggest thing is establishing a team that communicates, knowledgeable, and your boots on the ground. Also having a defined criteria for a certain area type(A, B, C, etc). Being patient in the crazy market. Also don't be stuck in analysis paralysis, find a good deal and go for it.

Alex Olson · Answer

@Jacob Peistrup Recommend to your clients that they really need to read @david greene's book on out of state investing. You must also tell them that you will have a team ready for them - lender, property manager, insurance, legal if needed, etc...Hope this helps!