Out of state investing (selecting market,financing,prop. manage)
Hi everyone,
This is my first post. However, I do spend a ton of time on BP (hour a day at least) and have also listened to over 100 podcasts. That being said, I have done research on the forums just wanted to reach out and see if anyone can either answer some of the questions I have and/or point me to a previous post which has great info. Any help is very appreciated.
Ok now for the meat of it. I desperately want to begin buying properties. I live in Santa Barbara, CA, where the median home value is $1,050,000. So my local markets and the surrounding markets are completely out of my price range. I am 22 years old, don't have a ton in the bank. Decent credit (around 700). Recently switched employers. Some credit card debt (will I need to pay off completely before getting mortgage?)
That being said I am resorting to investing out of state. Ideally I would like to buy something in the $80k-$100k range. I will not be able to pay cash. I will be investing for cash flow using a buy and hold strategy. I am open to SFR and multifamily, whichever works best for cash flow. I will definitely be using a property manager. Here are my biggest questions and maybe I can add some in as we go along.
-How to best find deals out of state? Should I contact a local real estate agent using the MLS? Should I be searching around on RedFin myself?
-How best to analyze out of state deals?
-How did you select a market to invest? Should I just select some growing cities and start doing some research on Redfin? For instance, can I just start looking in Austin/Dallas/Phoenix/Etc?
-Will these SFR's/multi families cash flow well even if using a property manager?
-How did you select a property manager? (There is a ton of info in the forums, just throwing this in as it is a concern of mine)
-Did you buy sight unseen? I most likely will not be able to travel out to see properties before buying.
-Are “boots on the ground” really that crucial?
-How to finance the early deals? How difficult is bank financing when it is out of state?
-Should I buy turnkey?