24-Year-Old PM Moving to the Southeast — Advice on Breaking Into Deals?

Question

Hey BiggerPockets Family,

I’m 24 and have been helping manage about 75 doors (SFHs + small multis) for the past year in Los Angeles. Property management has given me a solid foundation in operations, but I’m eager to grow further and transition into the deal side — especially flips, acquisitions, and long-term holds.

I’m planning to relocate in the next 6–8 months to a strong growth market (Charlotte NC, Greenville SC, Chattanooga TN, or Birmingham AL are on my radar). In the meantime, I’d love to connect with investors in these markets. I’ll be making short trips (7–14 days), covering my own lodging/travel, to get hands-on experience, see the market up close, and start building relationships before I move.

For those active in these markets:

• If you were starting fresh today, what entry strategies would you lean into (flips, BRRRR, small multis)?
• Which neighborhoods/submarkets stand out as “must-watch” or “must-avoid”?
• What’s the most effective way to plug into the local investing community once I land?

If you were starting fresh today, what entry strategies would you lean into (flips, BRRRR, small multis)?

Which neighborhoods/submarkets stand out as “must-watch” or “must-avoid”?

What’s the most effective way to plug into the local investing community once I land?

Grateful for any advice and excited to learn from those already building in these markets.

– Will

WIll Jandro · Answer

@Nick Chambers

Hey Nick, really appreciate you sharing this! I’ve been really interested in Charlotte, so it’s great to hear your perspective on the market and what’s working. I’ll definitely look into CREIA and the local groups. Would be glad to connect, either by phone or when I make it out there. Grabbing coffee and hearing more about your experience managing 100 doors and investing locally would be awesome. Appreciate the offer!

Nick Chambers · Answer

Hey Will,

I’m 26 and manage around 100 doors here in Charlotte, so I can definitely relate to your situation. It sounds like you're in a great spot to transition into deal-making with your property management experience.

As far as the markets you're considering, I can tell you Charlotte is one of the strongest growth areas right now. The rental market is booming, and there are a lot of opportunities for both flips and long-term holds.

For entry strategies, BRRRR and small multis are popular here, especially with how much rent prices are climbing. I'd definitely recommend connecting with local meetups or groups like the Charlotte Real Estate Investors Association (CREIA) once you get here—it’s a great way to meet other investors and build relationships.

Would love to connect more and help out as you’re getting familiar with the market here. Let me know if you’d like to chat or grab coffee while you’re in town!

Nick

Greg Parker · Answer

https://www.biggerpockets.com/markets?market=Montgomery%2C%2...

WIll Jandro · Answer

@Greg Parker

Thanks for sharing this! I’ll dive into the Montgomery market insights and start digging into the numbers. Appreciate you pointing me in the right direction.

WIll Jandro · Answer

@Chris Blevins

Thanks for sharing that, super helpful to hear from someone local. I’ve heard both pros and cons about Chattanooga, so your perspective on the traffic and infrastructure is good to know. Huntsville sounds really promising with the growth and industry moving in. I’ll definitely dig deeper into that market. Appreciate the insight!

Chris Blevins · Answer

I live within 30 minutes of Chattanooga and I absolutely can not stand it because of traffic. There has recently been an uptick in downtown with a ton of new townhomes and apartments going in. Traffic is a nightmare ever single day. There have been working in the 75/24 split for years and the interstate actually flooded last week and they had to shut 24 down because of it. I’m thinking there were 4 fatalities. You should be able to look it up. Not trying to steer you away from chatt but as a local it sucks. A place that’s growing tremendously is Huntsville Alabama if you haven’t checked in down there. I personally have been looking there myself. It is the fastest growing city in Alabama. Lots of new industries moving in and the new FBI facilities on Redstone arsenal. You have all of the major aero companies there as well as Facebook. Hope this helps some on your location.

WIll Jandro · Answer

@Syed Ahmed Thanks Syed, that’s super helpful. I like the idea of balancing small flips/BRRRR with multifamily to build both experience and cash flow. I’ll start checking out Meetup groups and REI events on my trips out. Would love to the opportunity to connect and hear more about your experience in the Southeast markets and talk strategy. Appreciate it!

24-Year-Old PM Moving to the Southeast — Advice on Breaking Into Deals?

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