Hello BP Family. I am a newbie to Real estate investing and very excited to be here. I have read some of the blogs and have gained immense amount of knowledge. Thank you all for sharing and posting your own experiences that helps us newbies a lot.

My question was If I wanted to start with my first Buy and Hold property what should I be looking at. I have heard two different views, If you buy a cheaper property $20,000-$60,000 the cash flow is generally lower and no property appreciation and if you buy a property that is $100,000 or more typically the property appreciates over time. Can you please advise me on this. I am ready to take the next step but can't decide what route I should go. I'm from Charlotte, NC and am looking to be in that market.

Thanks again!

Bianca

@Bianca G. - you will find a lot of rental property guidance on Bigger Pockets - I recommend that you consider what works for your comfort level (neighborhoods, price range, etc).

I purchase rentals that will provide a minimum of $200 cash flow.  One guideline I use says that if the rent is $1000/mo, then the most I can pay for that rental (including any renovation) is $80,000.

One caveat though - if you purchased that $80K property and it had plenty of deferred maintenance (needs a roof, windows don't work properly, old HVAC, galvanized plumbing), then you would need to have these items fixed prior to purchase or factor in this maintenance (pay me now or pay me later...).  

I facilitate many meetings of Hobby Millionaire Charlotte. We meet 4 times each week plus a monthly meeting the second Thursday of each month. You can find us on Meetup.com. We welcome new investors, and we have an open floor portion of the meeting where you can get your questions answered.

Thank you so much Mr Waters I really appreciate your feedback! I will definitely look into it.

Thanks Again!

Hello @Bianca G. , welcome to the site! Here are some good places to start: http://www.biggerpockets.com/meet- find and connect with other BP members that are in your area.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts - Set up keyword alerts to be notified of the topics that interest you.
And, of course the
http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums - ask any question about real estate!
See you around!

Thank You so much Dave! I truly appreciate it!

@Bianca G. welcome! I'm also a newbie out of Charlotte. I am contemplating the same scenarios. I think if I were to purchase a 20-60k property I would expect a higher cash flow due to the risks associated with a D class property. 

Thank You Michael, Welcome  to the BP family! I am considering the 28212/28215 zip codes as the rents are pretty decent on those zip codes. Please share your thoughts on that.

Thanks Again!