NEW INVESTOR from London, UK

[Mark Solomon]

Dear Good People of Bigger Pockets,

Hello! My name is Mark Solomon and I’m an American born in Philadelphia, now living in London since 2006. I moved here with my wife and daughter to work as a film editor of animated movies. It’s been a good run, but now I’m about to hit 60 and it’s time to pursue other means to financial independence.

My plan is to invest in residential properties and achieve cash flow of about $5k per month by the end of 2020.

I’ve been very lucky with past dealings in real estate. We owned our house in Los Angeles, remortgaged and upgraded a ‘mother-in-law’ apartment behind the garage that my mother-in-law actually lived in for a year. After we moved to the UK, we rented out the LA house and sold it from London just before the crash in 2008.

My wife’s parents left her a house in Massachusetts, free and clear, that we have rented for the past 10 years. We’ve learned to find good tenants with the support of an excellent local realtor.

As for location, I’m looking to invest here in London or further afield where the yields are better. I’m also considering investing in Denver Metro (Aurora) where my brother lives and has offered to be my eyes and ears on the ground.

I feel fortunate to have discovered Bigger Pockets with the wealth of information available and the encouragement and generosity of all you folks. I look forward to connecting with you, and especially to meet mortgage brokers who might advise me on how to refinance the Massachusetts house to free up additional cash for investing.

Thanks for reading.

[Jean Bolger]

If your goal is a strong 'cash on cash' cash flow then Denver/Aurora may not be your best choice; we're more of an appreciation market right now. If you want to put in a large downpayment and get cash flow plus a safe harbor for funds then you'd do quite well. There are sections of Aurora that will be looking at strong appreciation over the next few years. Those would be the rougher areas, although I have to say none of it is very rough in comparison to a lot of cities.

I'm curious about the English property market. Have you invested over there at all, or have you been renting? I was just looking online at properties in Devon before I popped over to BP. Trying to figure out if my Irish citizenship/EU passport will still allow residence/purchase in England and Scotland post-Brexit-- do you have any notion about that?