New to Long Distance Rental Property Investing

[Robin Lambert]

Hello everyone! My husband and I are new to real estate investing. We have been researching a lot and are anxious to get our hands wet. We live in Northern California so investing in our area (and California in general) is out of the question for us. We are looking for advice/connections for investing elsewhere in the country. We have been looking at markets in Memphis, San Antonio, Cleveland, and Cincinnati. Specifically, anyone with experience doing rehabs long distance? Thanks! 

-Robin 

[Chris Clothier]

Originally posted by @Robin Lambert:

Hello everyone! My husband and I are new to real estate investing. We have been researching a lot and are anxious to get our hands wet. We live in Northern California so investing in our area (and California in general) is out of the question for us. We are looking for advice/connections for investing elsewhere in the country. We have been looking at markets in Memphis, San Antonio, Cleveland, and Cincinnati. Specifically, anyone with experience doing rehabs long distance? Thanks! 

-Robin 

Hi Robin,

Excellent first post - great question - and welcome to BP!  I wish you and your husband much success!

Can I ask you why you state that in investing near home and in California in general is out of the question?  I only ask because as a new investor doing research it is easy to buy into a theory early on and then look for confirmation that you were correct.  Hopefully, you guys have a local mentor.  Not an out-of-state investment company that specializes in pointing California investors to the midwest and then collects fees from companies they work with, but an actual local mentor who invests either close to home or out of state.  

For the cost of a meal, you could pick the brain of a local, experienced investor who can confirm the ins and outs of investing with first-hand knowledge.  My hunch is that there are a lot of investors in Northern California who choose to invest close to home and they are doing excellent.  

I totally respect the idea to go out of state and that you may have your reasons.  I just thought I would suggest you check into your local market first and make sure it makes more sense to go out of state.  There are plenty of areas in California, especially in-land from the coasts where you can buy houses for the same price and return as a midwest property.  So you have to be clear on why California is out of the question.  Hopefully this reply came across as friendly!  It was meant to be :)