hey guys,

how do you find cash flow area right now around me is a appreciation market but im looking for a cash flow area. How do you find your area for long distance investing do you just guess and pick a state and work it? Do you know people in different areas and ask them? Is there a website you use? 

thank you 

It's all about the numbers with dollar signs in front.  Calculate/analyze markets for potential cash flow based on rents and expenses.

@Christopher Owens

Do what you just did.... ask a forum. Google. Then narrow down by your price point. Connect with a few wholesaler/realtors in the narrowed down areas and have them start sending you properties. They will also know area and you can ask questions of them.

I like Covington, GA. Blue collar. Lots of cash flow. Not a huge amount of appreciation.

Bought a duplex there for $105. $10k repairs. And it rents for $875 a unit. No vacancy issues.

I am a scout for properties in the Dallas Tx and surrounding area. Therefore I would suggest you find a scout for your area of interest. A scout has access to various websites, can do the foot work, meet with real estate agents, attend auctions, inspect the property, oversee construction on fix and flip properties, all on your behalf. Would also save you travel cost and time.

Christopher welcome to BP.  You should check out Northern Ohio (Cleveland) for cash flowing properties.  It's a great area, with solid returns.  

Do your research and find a place your comfortable with.  The people you work with that help you find and operate your property will ultimately be what drives your success.  We hopefully prevent our clients from making bad decisions and help them mitigate the unexpected in the easiest way possible.

Look through the forums. There are tons of discussion about the best cash-flowing markets. Narrow it down to a few states/cities that interest you and research them. Find investment property for sale, figure out what it would cost to purchase, what they would rent for, and crunch the numbers.

People rarely have wealth drop in their lap. You need to educate yourself and put in the effort. In this case, that requires doing some research and math until you know the market.

Originally posted by @Randall E Collins :

I am a scout for properties in the Dallas Tx and surrounding area. Therefore I would suggest you find a scout for your area of interest. A scout has access to various websites, can do the foot work, meet with real estate agents, attend auctions, inspect the property, oversee construction on fix and flip properties, all on your behalf. Would also save you travel cost and time.

done correctly this can be a good service.. its like We go Look.. only more defined. 

Originally posted by @Nathan G. :

Look through the forums. There are tons of discussion about the best cash-flowing markets. Narrow it down to a few states/cities that interest you and research them. Find investment property for sale, figure out what it would cost to purchase, what they would rent for, and crunch the numbers.

People rarely have wealth drop in their lap. You need to educate yourself and put in the effort. In this case, that requires doing some research and math until you know the market.

Also I think one needs to define cash flow !  every property that has rental income cash flows positive if you pay cash and the operating expenses are less than rent..

If the metric is it must be positive cash flow after expenses with a minimum amount down  IE max leverage.. This is where one needs to

start looking at Purchase price / rents   and come up with a formula they are comfortable with..  On BP it tends to be   100k/ 1k rents.. Although in many markets this is getting tougher without taking on some collection risks. 

Just as a general rule of thumb, look at the secondary and tertiary markets around the bigger cities. For example, I live in Raleigh, NC, but it's tough to cash flow in Raleigh, and the expensiveness and competitive landscape makes it a little higher barrier to entry.

Go outside of Raleigh and you have Wake Forest, Durham, Knightdale (where I live), Garner, Apex, Cary and a few other little towns. This is the secondary market. Some, not all, of these suburbs you can cash flow moderately. 

Go a little further outside of those and you get places like Benson, Wendell, Clayton, Louisburg, Youngsville, Holly Springs, Morrisville, Fuquay, and several other towns. This is the Tertiary market. People in this area will still drive 30-45 minutes into Raleigh for their job, but they'll live here because the housing price per square foot is 1/2 the cost of Raleigh houses, but rent is maybe 3/4 the cost of what you might find in Raleigh. In other words the rent depreciates much slower than the house cost the further you go away from a city. 

Also look at college and military towns for rent by room situations. This is my preferred method and gives you pseudo-multifamily benefit while getting single family homes.