What to do with 55 Thousand dollars?

[Scott Pringle]

I am looking to buy a single family home to rent out and to hold for a long time, perhaps a couple decades. I am still studying about being a landlord/rental properties. I am much more interested in cashflow than appreciation. I have little over 50 thousand dollars to work with but with interest rates so high, it seems the numbers work better if I could buy a small house in cash but I know there must not be too many areas in the U.S. where I can get a house for 50-55K that doesn't need much repair work. I have looked at Toledo, Ohio and Youngstown, Ohio. Any other markets that anyone suggests? Or any other strategy on what to do with 50-55K in terms of rental properties? Perhaps Condo? I have not started the process of forming a team or even an LLC yet until I am sure I want to commit to doing this.

[Greg Scott]

With $55K you should be able to buy two cashflowing properties, ones that should also experience good appreciation.  But, you need to know what you are doing.  I'll give you some of my opinions here, and you can DM me if you want to have a longer conversation.

First of all, Toledo and Youngstown I would avoid.  Both of those cities have seen declining population growth.  If you want to be in that part of the country, look for growing cities, like Columbus or Indianapolis. Wikipedia is your friend.

I would also avoid condos.  There are just too many problems with condo HOAs.  You can find many posts here on BP.

Lastly, why do you think you need an LLC? Depending on your situation, that may be a good idea or a complete waste of time and money.