Hello!

We are so excited having just refinanced and we are able to pull out to hard earned equity money, $42k! What markets are people looking in for cash flow deals? I live in Washington State, North of Seattle, and prices around here are crazy. We had been researching Indianapolis but more recently started looking at Albuquerque - we also have family down there who wants to invest 50/50 with us so we can get into a 4 unit perhaps. 

We are looking for any and ALL advice for our first rental property. Should we take the $42k and try to get two rentals? Should we put it all in one? Should I get a larger group together and buy something over $1M?

We want to own our first rental property in 2021, thank you in advance for taking the time to read this and reply! Looking forward to hearing from you all!

Congrats on the equity Kayla! I currently live in Seattle and invest in Indianapolis, Seattle and Couer d’alane ID and split time between all three markets. The market you choose all depends on your goals & interests. My rental in Seattle has appreciated a LOT in the past few years, my Indianapolis properties have  strong cash flow and the barrier to entry is far lower, and my CDA property is will be a great short term rental. It all depends on your goals/interests... what are your goals for your new rental?

Originally posted by @Kevin Lee :

Congrats on the equity Kayla! I currently live in Seattle and invest in Indianapolis, Seattle and Couer d’alane ID and split time between all three markets. The market you choose all depends on your goals & interests. My rental in Seattle has appreciated a LOT in the past few years, my Indianapolis properties have  strong cash flow and the barrier to entry is far lower, and my CDA property is will be a great short term rental. It all depends on your goals/interests... what are your goals for your new rental?

CDA sounds like a great market too. In regards to your properties in Indy, our goal would be to replace our income and cash flow properties. We like the stability of the indy market. What type of properties did you buy there? SFR? MF? I see tons of Duplex available. Do you manage the properties yourself or do you have a team in place for Indy?

Originally posted by @Jens Nielsen :

@Kayla Uderitz there are so many ways to structure a deal. 1-4 units are easy to finance and if it's your first deal it may make sense to invest in a smaller property. 

I own 75 units in Albuquerque, and it can be a good cash-flow market if you buy right. Prices are competitive at the moment, but there are still deals to be found.

Let me know how I can help?

How did you find your current properties? Have you had them for a while? Do you live in Alb? In your experience, what areas would you suggest that we look in for potential investment properties? 

Originally posted by @Joshua Christensen :

Hey Kayla.  I'm a broker and property mgr in Albuquerque.  I have 2 off market 4 plexes I'm happy to share with you.  1 is mine and 1 belongs to a client of mine.  I'm happy to be a resource for you in Albuquerque.

I would love to take a look at them. We are looking for something with a max purchase price of $400k. Thank you. 

@Kayla Uderitz , outskirt of Seattle (North of Everett, and south of Seatac) is pretty affordable and you can find pretty good deals less than $400K. 

@Kayla Uderitz hi! Indianapolis is a great market to invest in. The cash flow is strong, the tenants are fantastic and remote work is heavily adopted here creating a safer income security for your future tenants. Indy is heavy on the duplexes which slows for strong cash flow, but you do leave a good amount of cash in the deal. If you’d like to learn more about the Indy market feel free to shoot me a message. I’d be happy to help!

Hi Kayla, I don't  know Alburquerque other than prices  are going up a lot like a lot of markets. The median home price is around $250K which will make it hard to cash flow well. I do however know Indianapolis well. We've been active there for about 10 years. Indy is one of the most affordable larger markets so it's a strong cash flow market. Additionally, Indy has strong economic and demographic trends, a modern, diverse economy and is very landlord friendly. I would also add Kansas City to your radar. KC is very similar to Indy but slightly more expensive.

How did you find your current properties? Have you had them for a while? Do you live in Alb? In your experience, what areas would you suggest that we look in for potential investment properties? 

@Kayla Uderitz My properties was a combination of broker connections and direct mail. The smallest I have is 11 units, and the largest is 38 in Abq. I live in Santa Fe, NM.
I would avoid the area around the fairgrounds, the so-called international district has a lot of challenges and not recommend for new investors.