We purchased 3 properties out of state in 1 year!

Property Manager · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2018 · 514 posts · 470 votes

Hi BP! I know many people come on here and say how they purchased 20 or 40 or 60 units in no time, but I wanted to post our very realistic and achievable situation of purchasing our first 3 single family homes in a one year period, while living in one of the most expensive cities. Hope you enjoy my blog post below :)

How We Purchased Our First 3 Rental Properties Out of State in 1 Year

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Matt Wahidi

Contractor · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2019 · 30 posts · 11 votes

@Elenis C.

Hi Elenis,

Awesome awesome blog and I enjoyed reading it. Thank you for pointing me to the blog. It gave me a more courage to get started. As far is choosing city to invest in, do you just randomly say “let’s invest in Jacksonville,” or did you do some research on upcoming cities that are not too saturated yet?

Matt

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Michael S.Pro Member
Biggerpockets Support · Las Pinas, Metro Manila · Member since 2015 · 7k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7y
Congrats Elenis
1 Reply
Matt Wahidi
Contractor · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2019 · 30 posts · 11 votes
7y
@Elenis C.
Hi Elenis,
Awesome awesome blog and I enjoyed reading it. Thank you for pointing me to the blog. It gave me a more courage to get started. As far is choosing city to invest in, do you just randomly say “let’s invest in Jacksonville,” or did you do some research on upcoming cities that are not too saturated yet?
Matt
3 Reply
Elenis Camargo
OP
Property Manager · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2018 · 514 posts · 470 votes
7y
@Matt Wahidi Thanks so much! I'm so happy to hear it helped you in some way. No, it definitely was not random. My husband and I are originally from South Florida and went to college in Gainesville, 1.5 hours away from Jacksonville. My sister lives in Jax and we have a close friend who's a realtor there. Those are not really reasons for investing but here are just a few why we chose that city:
We started hearing that big companies were moving to Jacksonville, bringing higher paying corporate jobs and causing more people to move there as well. Florida's real estate market is also getting stronger, as more people are moving there to get away from the cold. Cities like Miami, Tampa and Orlando are saturated. Jacksonville is not, yet, and is the biggest city land wise in the US. We also constantly examine the Jacksonville market. One of the many ways that we do this is by looking at Jacksonville's median income growth rate relative to the national income growth rate. Jacksonville is being forecasted by top analysts to grow at a much higher rate than the nation as a whole. I don't have these numbers in front of me right now but I can provide them to you if you'd like this week. We are constantly keeping up with the market and trends in that area to make sure it's still a good place to invest.
Happy to answer any other questions you may have. Feel free to send me a PM :)
1 Reply
Jimmy Deringer
Real Estate Agent · Spokane, WA · Member since 2013 · 123 posts · 66 votes
7y
@Elenis C. I love Jacksonville for these same reasons! Congrats on your houses!!!
1 Reply
Oudeline Sinepha
MIAMI, FL · Member since 2018 · 12 posts · 4 votes
7y
Congrats
1 Reply
Matt Leber
Rental Property Investor · Orlando, FL · Member since 2015 · 353 posts · 269 votes
7y
@Elenis C. Awesome to hear your story! My wife and I graduated from UF in Gainesville as well and have family/friend ties to Jacksonville. We have properties in Jax and also on the space coast. Congrats!
1 Reply
Robert Goldman
Rental Property Investor · Orlando, FL · Member since 2019 · 56 posts · 26 votes
7y
@Matt Leber how is the Space Coast, Titusville, etc over there? I feel like the area is growing and might be a place to invest in.
0 Reply
Matt Leber
Rental Property Investor · Orlando, FL · Member since 2015 · 353 posts · 269 votes
7y
@Robert Goldman the space coast is growing with the space industry in an up cycle. Lots of people moving there now due to job growth in defense and space. But that will go through up and down cycles, as usual. We liked the area because we could find better deals than Orlando, but similar rents. I would stick to mid-tier rentals as there will always be someone who can “move up” into your property in good times or “move down” for more affordable housing in a downturn. Titusville has some lower priced housing options but the rents seem to lag slightly bit behind compared to Melbourne, Cocoa, Palm Bay. But that presents opportunities because there are more deals around. There is currently some development going on in Titusville so that bodes well for the area - its becoming a more desirable place to live.
0 Reply
Robert Goldman
Rental Property Investor · Orlando, FL · Member since 2019 · 56 posts · 26 votes
7y
@Matt Leber What do you classify as mid-tier rentals?
0 Reply
James Wise
Real Estate Broker · Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH · Member since 2013 · 31k+ posts · 20k+ votes
7y
Originally posted by @Elenis Camargo:

Hi BP! I know many people come on here and say how they purchased 20 or 40 or 60 units in no time, but I wanted to post our very realistic and achievable situation of purchasing our first 3 single family homes in a one year period, while living in one of the most expensive cities. Hope you enjoy my blog post below :)
How We Purchased Our First 3 Rental Properties Out of State in 1 Year
Well done! Keep up the good work.
1 Reply
Matt Leber
Rental Property Investor · Orlando, FL · Member since 2015 · 353 posts · 269 votes
7y
@Robert Goldman not high end, not a junker. Something functional, right in the middle.
Ex. Priced between $100k-150k and rent for $1k-1.5k per month. C+ to B+ neighborhoods.
Of course, if you can get a great deal on an A rated property that rents well over 1% rule you don’t need to pass it up. Or if you have the funds and knowledge to handle an extensive rehab then go for the “junker”. It all depends on what your goals and competencies are. I’m just speaking generally about what we have had success in and what I believe will hold well in both bull/bear markets.
1 Reply
Pearly Tan
Rental Property Investor · NJ · Member since 2018 · 70 posts · 26 votes
7y
@Elenis Camargo Congratulations on your success and sharing your story, I agree with you on your point about saving money. It is hard in the NYC area, but it can be done if you follow your plan diligently and live below your means.
How did you manage your rehabs as an OOS investor? Did you trust your GC to do the job completely, or did you have a boots on the ground project manager to oversee and manage the entire rehab process. How did you get updates on the progress of the rehabs? I'm about to embark on the same journey soon and interested to know how other folks are doing it.
2 Reply
Elenis Camargo
OP
Property Manager · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2018 · 514 posts · 470 votes
7y
@Jimmy Deringer Thanks!! You invest in Jax also?
0 Reply
Elenis Camargo
OP
Property Manager · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2018 · 514 posts · 470 votes
7y
@Matt Leber So awesome! Go Gators!!! How are your properties going?
0 Reply
Elenis Camargo
OP
Property Manager · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2018 · 514 posts · 470 votes
7y
@Pearly Tan Thanks so much!
I was lucky enough to find a contractor I could trust completely. I know it's a rare find. I met him a few months before using him here on BP and we spoke for a while. Then I ended up needing him unexpectedly and he saved me. He is a like-minded investor and also works on rehabs for other investors. When we met and spoke we both trusted each other. He didn't even ask for a deposit when I did the rehab. I managed that by working closely with him through phone calls and texts. He would text me pictures and keep me posted on the progress. When he ran across unforeseen issues, he texted me the picture and then called. Of course if you end up with someone untrustworthy then it is very hard to have it running smoothly. I would say gather a list of questions and interview several contractors. What I did to find my rental agent is that I emailed a list to several people and saw how detailed their responses were, if they were willing to talk on the phone, if they had listings to share, etc. Then from there after a few conversations I picked one. The same with the handyman. I looked on Craigslist for a handyman and texted about 5 of them. They all replied and I emailed them a list of things to give me a quote on. Only one replied!! He's the one I'm working with now. You'll quickly be able to filter out the bad people when you make them work for your business. If you just call them and give them the work then it's too easy for them. If you make them work up front by answering questions then you'll filter out the bad ones :) Hope that helps some!
With any standard maintenance issues, that's a bit easier. I have built a list of contacts I have worked with like plumber, handyman, electrician, etc. and call them whenever a tenant reports something.
3 Reply
Matt Leber
Rental Property Investor · Orlando, FL · Member since 2015 · 353 posts · 269 votes
7y
@Elenis C. They’re doing well. The ones on the space coast are single families and pretty much run themselves and have healthy cash flow between them.
The ones in Jax, two duplexes, we closed in late 2018. Got them off market for $160k total and rent them out for $2850 total, so there’s some nice cash flow there. I think we’ve finally gotten them fully up to speed.
I was reading about your other post a little bit, that you went through an eviction/rehab in the first 5 months of one of your places. We went through a similar process with a couple of these units (they were occupied when we bought them), but it was a short term issue and we were able to cosmetically clean up the units and get new tenants with higher rents. The original tenants were month to month and didn’t really respond well when we switched them from traditional landlording to a property management company. So, some pain at the beginning, but just part of improving the business.
And as always, GO GATORS!
1 Reply
Elenis Camargo
OP
Property Manager · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2018 · 514 posts · 470 votes
7y
@Matt Leber Amazing on the duplexes!! Which areas are they in? We want to get into multi-families next but have notices most of them are in the lower income areas of Jax.
At first I thought "inherited tenants are great!!" but after the third set I'm seeing it's MUCH better to place your own tenants. Happy to see you got the problem resolved quickly. I think it's totally worth it rather than dragging on the annoyance and issues with the inherited ones. You use a PM for all your properties? Or just the ones in Jax?
We plan on moving to Jax next year and getting Gator season tickets :) do you ever go to the games? Maybe we can all catch one together sometime!
0 Reply
Chris Babcock
Member since 2018 · 63 posts · 52 votes
7y
@Elenis Camargo
Thanks for the story and congrats! How easy/hard was it to find a property manager? Or do you PM remotely? I saw you mentioned that you have a rolodex of handymen etc.
1 Reply
Matt Leber
Rental Property Investor · Orlando, FL · Member since 2015 · 353 posts · 269 votes
7y
@Elenis C. West side Jax 32210. They are lower income, probably a C+ neighborhood. Doesn’t seem like crime is too much of a problem there though as it’s a bit further out from the rougher areas. I spent multiple weekends cleaning the units up (late at night) as we turned them over and never felt too unsafe. But anyway, we couldn’t even sniff a duplex in our area for double that price, so we bought them with the expectation that it would be a learning opportunity. And learn we have done - about property managers, evictions, rent collections, screening, and most importantly, Jacksonville. We thought that if we could be successful with those properties, who says we can’t pick up more properties there or branch out to other cities, or even out of state. Happy to have the units mostly stabilized now and running through property management.
We usually make it up to 1-2 home games a year. I have a few college friends and some extended family that live in Jax, so I’m there a fair amount too. Oh, and the Gators first football game against Miami is in Orlando this year at Camping World Stadium. We will be going to that one if we can get tickets.
0 Reply
Greg Junge
Investor · Parrish, FL · Member since 2014 · 120 posts · 115 votes
7y
@Elenis Camargo Great story, and I sent you a request to connect and I'd love to see what we can do together. I have a few ideas and really like your story and experience.
Looking forward to connecting soon!
Greg
1 Reply
Tom Ott
Equity Raiser and Turnkey Provider · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7y
Originally posted by @Elenis Camargo:

Hi BP! I know many people come on here and say how they purchased 20 or 40 or 60 units in no time, but I wanted to post our very realistic and achievable situation of purchasing our first 3 single family homes in a one year period, while living in one of the most expensive cities. Hope you enjoy my blog post below :)
How We Purchased Our First 3 Rental Properties Out of State in 1 Year
Congrats! Keep it up and you will have 20-40 units!
1 Reply
Elenis Camargo
OP
Property Manager · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2018 · 514 posts · 470 votes
7y
@Chris Babcock Thanks for reading!! I found a great PM but I only wanted him to get my a new tenant then have him hand over the property to me to self manage. I chose one that I got as a referral but I interviewed about 5 of them via a set of questions I sent via email as well as on the phone. The referred one ended up being the best choice. But yes, besides getting new tenants placed, I manage everything else myself.
1 Reply
Elenis Camargo
OP
Property Manager · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2018 · 514 posts · 470 votes
7y
@Matt Leber Awesome to hear that it's not as rough there as everyone says!! I have a property in 32209 and it's been working out well. And so true, if you can learn with the lower income neighborhoods and make it, then the others will be a cinch :) glad it's been working well for you.
Yes!! We were going to go to Orlando but we are having our first baby a month before so thought okay lets wait haha we are going to a November game. Anyways I'll keep in touch once we move down there. Would love to meet you and your wife as we all have a lot in common :) I'll send you a PM with my contact info so we can keep in touch in the meantime.
0 Reply
Elenis Camargo
OP
Property Manager · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2018 · 514 posts · 470 votes
7y
@Tom Ott Thanks! Totally the plan :)
0 Reply
Matt Wahidi
Contractor · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2019 · 30 posts · 11 votes
7y
@Elenis Camargo
Hi Elenis,
I sent you a PM last night. Thank you for the great info. I have more quest to ask when you respond to the PM
Thank you
1 Reply

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