Building a Rental Portfolio From Abroad

[James Newman]

Hey everyone,

I’m 29 years old and graduated from Bentley University with a degree in Finance in 2019. Although I do not currently work directly in finance, I stay very engaged with my own personal finances and continue educating myself on investing, wealth building, and real estate.

I currently work for the U.S. government overseas, usually on multi-year assignments. One advantage of my situation is that I do not currently have a mortgage or rent payment, which allows me to save roughly $60,000 per year in liquid cash. I am currently one year in to a 3 year tour, with the ability to extend. 

Most of my investing so far has been in the stock market and some cryptocurrency, but I am looking to diversify and start building a long-term portfolio of single-family rental homes. I am open to investing out of state and am focused on markets with solid rental demand, reasonable acquisition costs, and long-term growth potential.

My goal is to learn the fundamentals, make a smart first purchase, and gradually scale into a portfolio over time. I am especially interested in hearing from people who invest remotely, use property managers, or have experience building rental portfolios while living outside the U.S.

Looking forward to learning from everyone here and contributing where I can.

[Jimmy Lieu]

Quote from @James Newman:

Hey everyone,

I’m 29 years old and graduated from Bentley University with a degree in Finance in 2019. Although I do not currently work directly in finance, I stay very engaged with my own personal finances and continue educating myself on investing, wealth building, and real estate.

I currently work for the U.S. government overseas, usually on multi-year assignments. One advantage of my situation is that I do not currently have a mortgage or rent payment, which allows me to save roughly $60,000 per year in liquid cash. I am currently one year in to a 3 year tour, with the ability to extend. 

Most of my investing so far has been in the stock market and some cryptocurrency, but I am looking to diversify and start building a long-term portfolio of single-family rental homes. I am open to investing out of state and am focused on markets with solid rental demand, reasonable acquisition costs, and long-term growth potential.

My goal is to learn the fundamentals, make a smart first purchase, and gradually scale into a portfolio over time. I am especially interested in hearing from people who invest remotely, use property managers, or have experience building rental portfolios while living outside the U.S.

Looking forward to learning from everyone here and contributing where I can.

Hi James, welcome to BP! You're in a really unique position because being able to save around $60K per year without a housing payment gives you a huge advantage when it comes to building a real estate portfolio. Since you're overseas, I'd focus heavily on buying in markets with strong fundamentals and building a reliable local team before making your first purchase. A good property manager, contractor, and lender can make remote investing much more manageable. If you're looking for markets with solid rental demand, reasonable entry prices, and long-term growth potential, I'd definitely recommend taking a look at Columbus, Ohio. The macroeconomics are on fire here with strong population growth, job growth, and major employers continuing to invest in the region, including Intel, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Honda, LG, Nationwide, and Anduril. One thing many investors like is that you can still find properties in price ranges that can hit the 1% rule and generate positive cash flow, while also benefiting from appreciation potential driven by all the economic development happening in the area. I actually moved from Portland, Oregon to Columbus in 2020 specifically to invest in real estate and have built a portfolio of 10+ rentals here. Whether you invest here or elsewhere, I think your biggest advantage is your ability to consistently save capital and think long term. Happy to connect and answer any questions you have!