Out of state investing

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Rhonda Blue
Real Estate Broker · East TN Loudon/Lenoir City/Tellico Village · Member since 2014 · 363 posts · 222 votes
7y
Out of state investing. When I first started it was the same as it seems to be now. Sadly. So I blazed my own trail. LOL because in SoCal where we lived my small 40K wasnt going anyplace. I decided to invest within driving distance of a day. 8 hrs and so bought 2 properties in St George UT. Rented them right away and made solid 15% return cash on cash. I also bought 2 Long term rentals in Huntsville,Al and have those with a PM sight unseen. I worked primarily off the numbers. Now flash forward 5 years and Ive sold the original investments for a hefty profit and exchanged those for 6 in East Tn and 2 more in Huntsville. Im still always looking for the next deal. My advice. Dont listen to NA sayers. Know what you want, do your research, know your numbers, make connections. Reach out dont be afraid to ask questions. For every one person who pushes you back there will be one there with a life line. PM me anytime
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  • Joel Fine
    Rental Property Investor · Leander, TX · Member since 2018 · 183 posts · 264 votes
    7y

    San Jose might be a little far from you in Vallejo but I can point you to a couple of meetups here in the South Bay Area. PM me if interested.

    2Reply
  • Erica Raby
    Rental Property Investor · WA · Member since 2018 · 36 posts · 4 votes
    7y

    @Cody L.what software did you use

    0Reply
  • Junior Soares
    Contractor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2018 · 262 posts · 407 votes
    7y
    @Stacey Parker-Herman Hi Stacey, you can totally do it! There will be alot of haters but thats the nature of the game! They say if you have haters you must be doing something right! If ever theres anything I can help you with feel free to PM me, I'm still a newbie with only 7 doors under my belt and looking to close on another 5 next month but I can help you get at least this far! Best, Junior
    2Reply
  • Josh Dane
    Rental Property Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2013 · 100 posts · 85 votes
    7y

    @JaNae Anderson Not in the Bay Area but I do invest heavily out of state. Feel free to reach out to me directly ✌️

    0Reply
  • Cody L.
    Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    7y
    Originally posted by @Erica Raby:

    @Cody L.what software did you use

    Software for managing property? Buildium. 

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    Rental Property Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2017 · 45 posts · 25 votes
    7y

    @Junior Soares I most definitely will reach out to you as needed. Thanks again!

    0Reply
  • Matt K.
    Walnut Creek, CA · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    7y
    Originally posted by @Rhonda Blue:
    Out of state investing.

    When I first started it was the same as it seems to be now. Sadly. So I blazed my own trail. LOL because in SoCal where we lived my small 40K wasnt going anyplace. I decided to invest within driving distance of a day. 8 hrs and so bought 2 properties in St George UT. Rented them right away and made solid 15% return cash on cash. I also bought 2 Long term rentals in Huntsville,Al and have those with a PM sight unseen. I worked primarily off the numbers. Now flash forward 5 years and Ive sold the original investments for a hefty profit and exchanged those for 6 in East Tn and 2 more in Huntsville. Im still always looking for the next deal.

    My advice. Dont listen to NA sayers. Know what you want, do your research, know your numbers, make connections. Reach out dont be afraid to ask questions. For every one person who pushes you back there will be one there with a life line.

    PM me anytime

     Curious about the driving thing...8 hrs each way is a long drive.... But it's a cmom theme I see posted here often on BP. Is it the comfort of knowing you can hop in the car and drive to you rental or...?

    For perspective, flight from LA to KC is bit over 3 half hours and can be cheap if you fly budget airlines. Like sub 200 cheap... That could be cheaper than driving 8hrs, but you lose the flexability of just hoping into a car 

    1Reply
  • Rhonda Blue
    Real Estate Broker · East TN Loudon/Lenoir City/Tellico Village · Member since 2014 · 363 posts · 222 votes
    7y
    @Matt K. For me its what your comfortable with regarding travel expense. A few times instead of driving I flew to vegas for $50. Then rented a car and drove to St George. Signed leases and did walk thrus then returned car. Flew home same day. Less than $200 expense for 2 year lease. O so many adventures.
    3Reply
  • Sean Tabor
    Rental Property Investor · Flint, MI · Member since 2017 · 17 posts · 19 votes
    7y

    So, I just wanted to chime in really quickly on good markets. I know a lot of people like to harp on Michigan, but there's a lot of good here! I manage a Paint store right around Flint, and one of my customers flew in from San Diego and started a company here, specializing in bringing in CA investors and getting them some phenomenal returns. We don't always have a great reputation, but this company does Turn Key's or Buy/Rehab as well as management for investors, whichever floats your boat. I'd be happy to connect you if you're willing to consider MI.

    4Reply
  • JaNae Anderson
    OP
    Investor · Vallejo, CA · Member since 2016 · 72 posts · 25 votes
    7y

    Thanks @Michael Tempel. I’ll definitely keep you in mind. 

    0Reply
  • Jeff Wallenius
    Specialist · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2014 · 670 posts · 352 votes
    7y
    I just moved to Indianapolis in July but was a West Coast investor investing out of state prior to the move. The very best investment you can make is to fly out and vet the market, neighborhoods, property management, and ground team. Let me know if I can assist, I’ve gone through the school of hard knocks with this and have experienced some hurdles to avoid. Come out, I’ll show you around!
    3Reply
  • Jared Garfield
    Rental Property Investor · Montgomery, AL · Member since 2009 · 141 posts · 156 votes
    7y

    @JaNae Anderson Real Wealth Network is a bay area investment group that hosts investment events on a regular basis, Kathy Fetke has a great podcast that does a lot of education on different markets and they have 12 to 15 turn key providers that they have vetted and have all agreed to meet fairly rigorous standards.  They hold free events regularly and fly in providers of properties from across the country.  NORADA is another credible group that hosts events and specializes in out of state turn key properties.  Marco Santarelli is very technical and does a great job doing the same thing Real Wealth Network does.  I'm not sure if he has live events in the area.  There probably will be a lot of forum posts here on BiggerPockets with people discussing their experiences with both of these companies.  I've had a lot of experience in Atlanta, Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery, St. Louis, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Cleveland, so if you want to inbox me I can tell you more about those markets.  I've also done some in Salt Lake City and Ogden, UT but those markets don't cash flow well now.

    I would carefully consider property taxes in each state because if you go off of the 1% rule (the property renting for 1% of the purchase price) only, the property taxes in some states can be tripple that of others and really eat into the cash flow.  Also, be very careful as people describe the neighborhood or asset class as A, B, C , D or F, this is so subjective and there is a lot of dishonesty or miscommunication on this.  Check demographics very closely at a site like OnboardNavigator.com or similar (NeighborhoodScout is amazing but is a fee based service).  

    Making sure to check poverty levels, income levels, education levels, vacancy rates, crime etc are very helpful, and you'll want to know the average age of home in the area and avoid investing in really old housing stock if there is a lot of newer homes.  Having excellent property management is so important because n o matter how good the deal, bad management can kill it.  Find someone who is NARPM certified if possible, and find out their eviction rates, how long it takes to lease up, what the lease up fees are and what their vacancy rate is on the portfolio they manage.

    Make sure that when buying turn key that you get a complete rehab scope list with a total cost of what went into the house, this allows you to compare apples to apples.  I hope this gives you a huge jump on what you are trying to accomplish in the new year!

    5Reply
  • Garric Nahapetian
    Member since 2018 · 2 posts · 1 vote
    7y

    @JaNae Anderson I totally understand the desire to want to meet with people in person and talk about your interest in out of state REI. When I was transitioning from a lawyer to an iOS Engineer, I created Learn Swift LA so that I could meet with other people like me that wanted to learn to code. I felt alone and I didn't want to feel that way. At the time, there was no meet up that served me, so I created one! Maybe you could do that too. I would check meetup.com and see if there's a group for you. If not, create it!

    1Reply
  • JaNae Anderson
    OP
    Investor · Vallejo, CA · Member since 2016 · 72 posts · 25 votes
    7y

    Wow...... thanks @Jared Garfield this totally helps. I’m grateful that you took the time to provide such detailed information. I’ll be adding to my list people to contact for sure. Thanks again for the info. 

    1Reply
  • JaNae Anderson
    OP
    Investor · Vallejo, CA · Member since 2016 · 72 posts · 25 votes
    7y

    Thanks @Jeff Wallenius. I’m going to take you up on that offer especially if I narrow down my first out of state investment to Indianapolis. I have some homework to do. 

    0Reply
  • Michael KulusichPro Member
    Investor · San Pedro, CA · Member since 2015 · 17 posts · 1 vote
    7y

    @Sean Tabor. I would be interested in learning more about Michigan especially turnkey in that market.

    0Reply
  • Nathan BrooksBusiness Member
    Lender · Kansas City, MO · Member since 2012 · 403 posts · 188 votes
    7y

    There are a number of great areas to invest in ... just make sure to not only look at the cost of the actual ASSET, but then understand the taxes, the insurance, any local government laws, etc.  If you have a specific Kansas City question, I can definitely help more specifically there for anyone.

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    0Reply
  • Bob Prisco
    Specialist · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 666 votes
    7y

    Analysis paralysis, So many research things to death and never pull the trigger.  NOTHING beats actually speaking with those that are doing deals, vs reading charts and stats online, total waste of time. I have dozens and dozens of clients from CA, that invest in the Cleveland markets, flipping 100s and 100s and 100s of properties,  SF - MF , 90% of them have never been to Cleveland or met me . Its all about the team surrounding you and providing a great service . 1.5 . 2.5 % rule still applies in Cleveland if you know what you are doing.  It used to be 3 -  4 % a few years back. Find someone doing deals vs talking about them,  learn, listen and do. .... All the best to everyone, 

    2Reply
  • Henry Marshall
    Specialist · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2018 · 87 posts · 13 votes
    7y
    @JaNae Anderson your welcome in the Cincinnati, Ohio market.
    1Reply
  • Jeff Wallenius
    Specialist · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2014 · 670 posts · 352 votes
    7y

    @JaNae Anderson your welcome anytime! Happy to connect after the holidays and answer any questions you may have.

    0Reply
  • Lane Kawaoka
    Rental Property Investor · Honolulu, HAWAII (HI) · Member since 2011 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    7y

    If you are in a primary market the Rent-to-Value Ratios are not going to work! 

    You need cashflow especially in this top of the cycle.

    1Reply
  • Michael Ciesielski
    Member since 2018 · 17 posts · 11 votes
    7y
    @Sean Tabor I am in Flint, Mi. If you're available, I'd love to talk to you more about rental properties in the area.
    0Reply
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