Northridge, CA · Member since 2016 · 8 posts · 3 votes
I am located in LA, California and started educating myself on how to invest in real estate. Unfortunately, my budget is too small for investing in my local area ($100K-120K)
First, I have learned that its not a good start for my first investment to be out of state or away from home, Is that true?
Second, if its ok to invest away from home, I have looks for a property on Craigslist that fits my budget, 100 miles away and to be sold by owner, no agents. What can I do if I need to address the property with comparable ones in area, to estimate repairs, ARV and profit since I am not allowed to use an agent and at the same time I am still in lack of experience and need an agent to help and advice in evaluating for fix n' flip.
Developer/Broker · Spanish Fork, UT · Member since 2016 · 73 posts · 41 votes
10y
Hi Remon. In my experience, it's much easier to stay close to home or as I've also heard is said "in your backyard". I've been involved in 3 rehabs and they were all within 10 minutes of where I live. If flipping/investing in your area is expensive and you want to flip out of state, I'd suggest picking a market that you can visit without incurring lots of expenses. I'd then find a great investment broker in that market so that I have "eyes on the ground". I believe that you'd be able to do flips outside of your market by having the right team on the ground. Just my thoughts. I wish you the best and hope you find what you're looking for.
Loan Officer · Tustin, CA · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 713 votes
10y
I hear load and clear. Yes doing a flip is much easier and less expensive then travellling. On a first flip I personally would not go with a property without having an agent/ advocate. Do you have a contractor that you relay on? You need a team approach here. Agent, contractor, finance person and lastly a system to find the properties.
Investor · Riverside, CA · Member since 2013 · 25 posts · 10 votes
10y
Decide what market you want to work in. This is the first step. It doesn't make sense to build a team and then look for the property because the effort you put into the team might be useless. What if you find a contractor and agent, but come to find out they are not an expert in your area where you finally decide to invest? Or what if they just don't travel that far to work? Find the area then become an expert on the demographics of the area. Once that is done you can start putting the pieces in place using local experts that can give you reliable advice. Hope that helps. Listen to the podcasts if you haven't yet. They're a great source of information from people who have done exactly what you're trying to do right now. Good luck.
Northridge, CA · Member since 2016 · 8 posts · 3 votes
10y
Thanks Matthew for the great advice. Now if I would like to start my first step to select an area. As I mentioned before, my local area is too expensive for me to start in, so basically I need to select an area that fits my budget. I already selected an area which is about 100 miles away. How can I start to address the market there? Shall I contact realtors there to help me out? OR may be google it to make a self study? I am not sure if I did a self study I will be able to achieve valuable information at least now.