Looking for my first deal here in the USA...any suggestion?

Question

Hello everyone!

I'm new here in the BP community and I already love it! I moved from Italy (where I already invested in real estate) a couple of years ago and I'd love to start investing here in the USA.

The area where I moved (SF Bay Area) is not what I'm looking for to invest (and not what I can afford for sure), so I'm trying to understand how to invest out of State ( I've already read "Long Distance Real Estate investing").

I have a $50,000 budget, I plan to finance, and I would love to start with a rental property (3+2 SFH, nothing more than cosmetic rehab, good tenants neighborhoods with good schools, in cities with +100,000 population; Kansas City, Indianapolis, Detroit). Any suggestion on other possibilities? Would you look at duplex/triplex?

What would you suggest for my low level of expertise and my initial budget?

Thank you os much in advance!

Judah Hoover · Answer

Find your local investors club or REIA and attend. Try to meet wholesalers and realtors there. I would be SHOCKED if you didn't walk out with a deal

Omar Khan · Answer

@Marco Paglialunga I would attend REIAs and other RE meetups, but I would first try to understand my goals, objectives and constraints. For instance, if you wanted to do buy and holds, but your REIA only had fix n flippers, then you would tend to ignore that advice and try to find the buy and hold type crowd.

When you're starting out, it is better to understand your personality and investing style to filter the opportunities that you want to avail. It is tempting to learn about everything but you will waste valuable time and energy (without making discernible economic progress) and might get frustrated.

Summary: understand your goals, objectives and constraints. Network with folks who are doing what you want to do. Ignore the rest.

Marco Paglialunga · Answer

@Lane Kawaoka , thanks so much! Yes, that was my initial thought, but for sure I could learn a lot of things visiting my local REIA, no matter what!

I saw you have a podcast...I'll start to listen to it for sure! Thanks for your advices.

Omar Khan · Answer

@Marco Paglialunga I second @Judah Hoover comment and would suggest you to start attending your local REIA and other real estate meetups. You will network with local investors, understand what people in your area/tax bracket are investing and start educating yourself in a better way than buying random properties that make sense on paper.

It would also work better if you stated what your investment goals, objectives and constraints are. For instance, everyone says they want cash flow but how much cash flow? By trying to maximize your cash flow you might be taking on risks you might not prefer taking.

Alternatively, you might invest for capital appreciation because you might be in the top most tax bracket. Hence, you will be looking at a diff. set of markets than just cash flowing markets.

All in all, it's not an easy decision to buy the most "attractive at the moment" houses. You will especially be eager because you live in California and see cheaper houses in the other states as super attractive. Be warned! There's a reason why assets in certain markets are priced in a particular way. Doesn't mean the asset/market is bad, it just means you have to analyze what's a good fit for your portfolio and goals.

Lane Kawaoka · Answer

@Marco Paglialunga

Agreeded when I started working at my job I found that I was surrounded by 50-60 year old who had a view of the world after they had been passed over for job after job. They had a altered view of the world. Just arm yourself with a high level before hearing N=1 stories.

Larry Fried · Answer

@Marco Paglialunga How active or passive are you planning to be in your OOS investing?  Are you looking for something turnkey or building a team aka Long Distance Investing author?  If you are financing a deal upfront you are going to have to plan on something with a pretty light repair in order to obtain bank financing.

Marco Paglialunga · Answer

@Omar Khan and @Judah Hoover, thanks so much for your suggestion! I'll definitely participate to some REIA of the area, just to see if there's anyone who's investing out of State.

Yes, my main goal is cash flow (the highest I can, but considering that I would love to invest in a A-, B neighborhood, low crime areas, good schools). What would you do in my shoes?

Marco Paglialunga · Answer

@Ross Denman, thanks so much for your message! Any suggestion on good real estate agents in the area?

Looking for my first deal here in the USA...any suggestion?

Most Popular Reply