New to Real Estate · International · Member since 2018 · 15 posts · 10 votes
Hello all, I am an international investor with a small portfolio of (non-US) properties, and looking to break into the US multi-family / condo market. I've been an avid follower of bigger pockets for the past few months and learned a lot by reading other people's experiences.
My goal is to build passive income, so ideally want to do my own deals, rather than buying into larger deals sold by aggregators such as Cadre and others.
I've been following the California market (quite high entry cost, even away from coast), Texas (austin cap rates too low, houston could be interesting) and Florida (seems a good blend of low entry costs and decent cap rates).
I look at deals via some online portals mainly but have not made the jump from deal analysis to closure.
I would really appreciate your thoughts on the best ways to source deals and (interest only) financing, if there are any international investors in a similar situation to me.
Chicago is the 3rd largest MSA, national travel hub, less prone to natural disasters / risks, and is very moderately priced compared to larger MSA's like New York. What numbers are you trying to hit that you were not able to find in Chicago? Or are you shying away from Chicago for other reasons?
Lending has radically changed over the last couple weeks. Before you spend too much time looking anywhere, I would touch base with some lenders to make sure you can obtain financing and use those financing terms to run your analysis.
Thanks @Nick Rutkowski - good point on landlord vs tenant friendly. Do you have experience in doing deals remotely in FL and TX (as I see you are based in NY). Thanks again.
Thanks @Lydia R. - agree with you on money going further in these Midwest states. I'm trying to narrow down to states where I have some family / friend connections, and that rules out most of the midwest other than Illinois (I've lived in Chicago for a few years).
Within Texas, what are the best markets in your view ? Thanks again.
Chicago is the 3rd largest MSA, national travel hub, less prone to natural disasters / risks, and is very moderately priced compared to larger MSA's like New York. What numbers are you trying to hit that you were not able to find in Chicago? Or are you shying away from Chicago for other reasons?
Lending has radically changed over the last couple weeks. Before you spend too much time looking anywhere, I would touch base with some lenders to make sure you can obtain financing and use those financing terms to run your analysis.
Thanks @Joseph Konney. I looked at some student housing in the Evanston area (entry price was quite high), and at individual condos in downtown area (cap rates were quite low). I see a lot of interesting listings in the south shore area with decent cap rates, but haven't previously looked at that neighbourhood.
I'm looking to hit 10% CoC return with leverage, on between $200-300K of equity to put to work.
I do appreciate your point on financing. If you have any interesting investment opportunities you can share with me, please DM me and we can take the discussion offline :-)
We are focused on Florida and there are a number of international investors down here. That being said, Florida has some very competitive markets and also some markets not as competitive that are a little outside of the major Cities.
Thanks @Charles Carillo - Florida is attractive given my understanding that its laws are landlord friendly and there isn't a state income tax. I heard one of your podcasts and it was super informative ! I will take some time to listen to a couple more and then reach out to you bilaterally.
BiggerPockets is a good venue to learn from successful investors in REI. For now, I would like to give you brief introduction of how you can learn from the community. Here are some primary tips I would like to share with you:
1. Subscribe to the BiggerPockets Money and Rookie Podcasts
2. Attend the FREE WEBINARS
3. Attend a Meetup in Your Area
4. Purchase the Beginner Books: How to Invest in Real Estate, Set for Life, The House Hacking Strategy
5. Peruse the forums! Ask questions! Answer Questions!
Good luck in your passive income journey! See you around and be safe too!
It has taken me 10 years of living in my market to say I really really know it. If it were me, I would live in the market or visit it frequently for many years before putting my money in it.
Hi @Ian Walsh - you’re right, no substitute for living in the target market. To overcome this issue I’ve explored investing passively or via a syndicate as compared to directly purchasing properties. There are pros and cons to both approaches ofcourse, so I’m keeping options open while I try to educate myself.