New opportunity out of state

Out of State Investing
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New opportunity out of state

Christine Vasquez
New to Real Estate · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2025 · 3 posts · 11 votes

Hello all! 
I live in LA, and have a rental here as well. It has become too expensive to invest in another rental at this point. Looking for recommendations on states I can look into for a potential new investment. Long term/ short term rentals would work, ideally in the $400k range or lower. Thanks in advance for the help, open to any ideas. 

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Shea Gajewski
Rental Property Investor · Racine WI · Member since 2024 · 10 posts · 17 votes
1y

Hello, I would recommend the South Eastern Wisconsin area.  I personally own in Racine, and I am expanding my portfolio into Milwaukee.  In the city of Racine, I have noticed the the property values are low compared to the amount of rent you can receive. For example I purchased a duplex for 165k and put about 20k into it, and I am going to receive $2500 a month is rents if not more.  If you'd like to talk more about the area, I'm happy to do so. Just send me a message. Thanks!

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  • Shea Gajewski
    Rental Property Investor · Racine WI · Member since 2024 · 10 posts · 17 votes
    1y

    Hello, I would recommend the South Eastern Wisconsin area.  I personally own in Racine, and I am expanding my portfolio into Milwaukee.  In the city of Racine, I have noticed the the property values are low compared to the amount of rent you can receive. For example I purchased a duplex for 165k and put about 20k into it, and I am going to receive $2500 a month is rents if not more.  If you'd like to talk more about the area, I'm happy to do so. Just send me a message. Thanks!

    7Reply
  • Kerlous TadresBusiness Member
    Realtor · Columbus, OH · Member since 2023 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    1y
    Quote from @Christine Vasquez:

    Hello all! 
    I live in LA, and have a rental here as well. It has become too expensive to invest in another rental at this point. Looking for recommendations on states I can look into for a potential new investment. Long term/ short term rentals would work, ideally in the $400k range or lower. Thanks in advance for the help, open to any ideas. 

    Welcome to BP Christian!
    I would recommend looking in the Midwest areas, especially Columbus, Ohio. Multiple companies are coming to Columbus such as Intel, Google, Microsoft, etc that are coming in this area, which will help in long-term rentals/short-term rentals. There is also many opportunities that are under $400k. I have a neighborhood map of what areas I recommend investing in 

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  • Travis Biziorek
    Investor · Arroyo Grande, CA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    1y

    I understand your situation—investing in LA at today’s prices makes it tough to find solid returns. I’m also based in California and invest in Detroit, where prices are far more reasonable, and there are still strong cash flow opportunities.

    Detroit has a solid rent-to-price ratio, improving economic fundamentals, and plenty of value-add potential if you have the right team in place. It’s not a market where you can just buy blindly, but for investors willing to do their homework, it offers a strong mix of cash flow and appreciation.

    If you’re open to learning more, I’m happy to share some resources on how I’ve built my portfolio there. Let me know.

    3Reply
  • Anthony L Amos Jr
    Real Estate Agent · Columbus | Toledo · Member since 2019 · 608 posts · 768 votes
    1y
    Quote from @Christine Vasquez:

    Hello all! 
    I live in LA, and have a rental here as well. It has become too expensive to invest in another rental at this point. Looking for recommendations on states I can look into for a potential new investment. Long term/ short term rentals would work, ideally in the $400k range or lower. Thanks in advance for the help, open to any ideas. 


    Columbus, OH has plenty of development happening that have been bringing in workers from all over the U.S. and with a great inventory of A+ homes in the 400k range, it's definitely worth a look. 

    1Reply
  • Nadeem Alamgir
    Real Estate Agent · Member since 2023 · 831 posts · 577 votes
    1y

    Hey Christine, I might be biased, but you could look into Cleveland, Oh.

    Here are a few things to consider against investing there:

    - Slower appreciation compared to some other markets

    - Harsh winters, which can lead to higher maintenance costs

    - Many discounted single and duplex might need repairs or updates, especially if the previous owners haven’t kept up with maintenance over the years

    - Some local regulations to be aware of (nothing crazy, but worth noting when trying to close deals).

      But there are also some solid reasons to invest in Cleveland:

      - Affordable properties in the $100K-$300K range

      - Strong long term rental market due to a high rent to price ratio

      - Landlord friendly laws overall

      - Potential for great cash flow

      - Opportunities for Section 8 tenants

      - stable market once you have the right team in place

        Every market has pros and cons so it comes down to your budget, risk tolerance, and finding a reliable crew you can trust. Best of luck!

          1Reply
        • Anil Shah
          Real Estate Agent · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2025 · 31 posts · 15 votes
          1y

          Hi Christine, I am a real estate investors based in Raleigh, NC and also work as a Realtor. Similar to your situation, investing in prime location is Raleigh area has also gotten expensive (not as much as Bay area) and as such, I extended my investment portfolio to nearby suburbs. I just bought two new construction houses where builders were offering 5.25 % interest rate for investors. Townhouses start from 255K and single family from low 300K. Let me know if this would be of interest to you. I am particularly bullish in NC - good weather, no nautural disaster and climate risk, and excellent economic opportunities. NC had the largest numbers of people moving in, second only to Texas. 

          0Reply
        • Remington LymanBusiness Member
          Real Estate Agent · Columbus, OH · Member since 2017 · 6k+ posts · 7k+ votes
          1y
          Quote from @Christine Vasquez:

          Hello all! 
          I live in LA, and have a rental here as well. It has become too expensive to invest in another rental at this point. Looking for recommendations on states I can look into for a potential new investment. Long term/ short term rentals would work, ideally in the $400k range or lower. Thanks in advance for the help, open to any ideas. 


           Welcome to BiggerPockets! Pretty much anywhere in the Midwest

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        • Karmine Cramer
          Real Estate Agent · WI · Member since 2024 · 25 posts · 14 votes
          1y
          Quote from @Christine Vasquez:

          Hello all! 
          I live in LA, and have a rental here as well. It has become too expensive to invest in another rental at this point. Looking for recommendations on states I can look into for a potential new investment. Long term/ short term rentals would work, ideally in the $400k range or lower. Thanks in advance for the help, open to any ideas. 


           Welcome to BP Christine! 

          I would suggest you start looking into South Eastern Wisconsin. With a healthy growing economy, There is a great opportunity to capitalize while also having cash flow. I'm in connections with a 4 unit owner. Asking $380,000 brings in $4,000 (Beats 1% rule) a month with room to grow. The numbers make sense in this region and having a strong team you can rely on is KEY! 


          Let's connect!

          2Reply
        • Drew SygitBusiness Member
          Property Manager · Royal Oak, MI · Member since 2012 · 12k+ posts · 9k+ votes
          1y

          @Christine Vasquez

          How high can housing prices in the City of Detroit go?

          In case you missed it, Detroit' Mayor Duggan announced that the value of houses in the city increased 23% in 2024.

          In the last 7 years, Detroit housing is up over 300%!

          That's an average of 17% annually over that time.

          The City of Detroit has not only outperformed every city in the Metro Detroit area, its outperformed every city in the USA from 2014-2024:

          Let that sink in for a minute ... you'll probably need more time than that to process this!

          Not only did Detroit beat every city in other popular Midwest states like Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin, etc...

          Detroit beat every city in the super popular states of Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas - Detroit beat them ALL!

          Now let's be real, yes housing values are up overall in the city, but they do vary by Neighborhood. So, it's still NOT a good idea to try to invest by zip codes - which are too big in our opinion/experience. Please stop asking us for "the best" zip codes to invest in.

          Detroit has around 183 Residential Neighborhoods - wouldn't it be nice if "some proprety mangagement company" Classified them all as A, B, C, or D on an interactive map that real estate investors could use to make better decisions?

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        • Samuel DioufBusiness Member
          Real Estate Agent · Columbus & Cleveland, OH · Member since 2023 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
          1y

          Hey Christine, have you looked into Ohio markets such as Columbus? A lot of investors based in markets like California and New York are choosing to purchase their investments OOS in the Midwest because of the affordability and numbers making more sense.

          Prices in Columbus are still low enough to find 1% rule deals and there's a ton of appreciation happening in this market as well. I actually moved from Florida to Columbus for the real estate. I saw how fast the city was growing and decided to make the jump.

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        • Jimmy LieuBusiness Member
          Real Estate Agent · Columbus, OH · Member since 2019 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
          1y
          Quote from @Christine Vasquez:

          Hello all! 
          I live in LA, and have a rental here as well. It has become too expensive to invest in another rental at this point. Looking for recommendations on states I can look into for a potential new investment. Long term/ short term rentals would work, ideally in the $400k range or lower. Thanks in advance for the help, open to any ideas. 

          Hi Christine! I moved from Portland, OR to Columbus OH for this exact reason! I strongly recommend looking into Columbus Ohio. You can get multiple rental properties for under the 400k range here. There are still a lot of deals that are anywhere from 120-180k and multifamily typically starts around 200-250k. So you get way better bang for your buck and there is still positive cash flow and deals that hit the 1% rule. The macroeconomics are on fire here - population growth, job growth, and companies moving and developing here. For example Intel headquarters, Google, FB, Amazon, Nationwide, Honda, (recently Anduril announced another 4k jobs to Columbus). Anything you buy here will EXPLODE in terms of appreciation/equity. Happy to connect and answer any questions you have!
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        • Kerry Noble JrPro Member
          Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
          1y

          Im open to connecting here in my market......Central IN

          0Reply
        • Dayana García
          Member since 2025 · 17 posts · 10 votes
          1y

          We live in Florida and have been investing in Lansing MI. There are a lot of opportunities on ready to move in homes for less that 130k depending on the size. Rents are not bad at all, 3/2 about 1500, 1/1 about 850, 2/2 about 1300. All depending on location as every market. You would need a good property manager, he is also a real estate agent. Let me know if you need his info 

          0Reply
        • Tim Ryan
          Investor / Mentor / Contractor · Arcadia, CA Buying Out of State · Member since 2015 · 655 posts · 622 votes
          1y

          You are thinking right to look outside Calif.  There are always several good growth markets at any given time. The key is to get in early and not too late. I can elaborate more - DM me.

          1Reply
        • Jackson Harris
          Realtor · Phoenix AZ, USA · Member since 2023 · 209 posts · 81 votes
          1y

          Hi Christine, 

          Being so close, Arizona is a good market to look at. I invest and am an agent/wholesaler out here. 

          My business partner and I own some STR's here that perform well and are in areas that will definitely appreciate in the near future. Would be happy to get on a call to tell you more about this market

          0Reply
        • Marc RiceBusiness Member
          Real Estate Agent · Columbus Cleveland Dayton, OH · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
          1y
          Quote from @Christine Vasquez:

          Hello all! 
          I live in LA, and have a rental here as well. It has become too expensive to invest in another rental at this point. Looking for recommendations on states I can look into for a potential new investment. Long term/ short term rentals would work, ideally in the $400k range or lower. Thanks in advance for the help, open to any ideas. 


           The midwest markets in Ohio are great for this.

          [email protected]614-363-2787
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        • Remington LymanBusiness Member
          Real Estate Agent · Columbus, OH · Member since 2017 · 6k+ posts · 7k+ votes
          1y
          Quote from @Christine Vasquez:

          Hello all! 
          I live in LA, and have a rental here as well. It has become too expensive to invest in another rental at this point. Looking for recommendations on states I can look into for a potential new investment. Long term/ short term rentals would work, ideally in the $400k range or lower. Thanks in advance for the help, open to any ideas. 


           Ohio is a popular market for people in your situation. 

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        • Min ZhangBusiness Member
          Real Estate Agent · Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
          1y

          Hey Christine, I recommend checking Columbus. For around $400k, you can find duplexes in solid A/B-class neighborhoods, and for around $200k, you can grab one in C-class areas. My rentals are located in C-class neighborhoods in Hilltop and Linden, and they've been cash flowing really well for me too. I’ve had great success with those areas, and it's nice to see that they're appreciating over time. Cleveland is another solid option. For about $150k, you can find duplexes in decent condition in C-class areas. If you ever want to chat or brainstorm strategies, feel free to connect!

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        • Eric FernwoodBusiness Member
          Realtor · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2014 · 997 posts · 1k+ votes
          1y

          Hello @Christine Vasquez,

          Many investors choose real estate markets based on gut feelings or popular trends. In this response, I will outline the process of selecting an investment city based on financial goals.

          Financial independence

          Financial independence goes beyond reaching a specific dollar amount, like replicating your current income. In a world of constant inflation, maintaining your lifestyle over time requires an income that meets four key criteria:

          Rent Growth Must Outpace Inflation

          If a basket of goods costs $100 today, in ten years, with 5% annual inflation, that basket will cost $162. If your income grows faster than inflation, you'll have the $162 needed to purchase the basket. If not, you must get a job to cover the difference.

          Lasts Throughout Your Lifetime

          Your rental income relies on your tenants maintaining stable employment at comparable wages. However, since the average lifespan of a U.S. company ranges from 10 to 18 years, most private-sector jobs your tenants hold are likely to end within that timeframe. Suppose new companies do not establish operations in your investment city to create replacement jobs with similar pay. In that case, your rental income may decrease as more workers transition to lower-paying service sector roles. Consequently, your financial stability hinges on the emergence of new companies generating equivalent employment opportunities.

          Sufficient to Replace Your Current Income

          A single property is unlikely to generate enough rental income to replace your current income, so you'll need multiple properties. The capital you'll need to accumulate depends on the appreciation rate in your chosen investment city. If there is little or no appreciation, every investment dollar must come from your savings. For example, if you need $7,000/month to replace your current income, and each property costs $250,000 and generates $300/month in cash flow, the amount of cash you'll need just for 25% down payments is $7,000/$300 × $250,000 × 25% ≈ $1,458,333. That's a significant amount of after-tax savings to accumulate.

          Investing in a city with an average annual appreciation of 8% can be a game-changer. By holding the property until its value increases significantly, you can execute a cash-out refinance to fund your next purchase. This strategy has allowed my clients and me to expand our property portfolios with minimal upfront capital. It closely aligns with the principles of the BRRRR method.

          Low Risk of Natural Disasters

          Natural disasters can wreak havoc on your property and the surrounding community, causing job losses and the closure of businesses, which often forces residents to relocate. Although insurance may help rebuild your property, the community's recovery could take years or never fully happen. In the meantime, expenses such as debt payments, taxes, insurance, and maintenance persist.

          Characteristics of a City That Enables Financial Independence

          To maximize your chances of achieving financial independence through real estate, focus on cities exhibiting the following characteristics:

          • Significant and Sustained Population Growth: Rental rates are driven by supply and demand. Population growth creates increased demand for housing, pushing rents higher.
          • Rapid and Sustained Appreciation: In cities with abundant, low-cost land, new construction is often preferred over existing properties, limiting appreciation potential. Focus on cities where demand outstrips supply, driving up property values and rents.
          • New Companies Create Replacement Jobs: A growing economy is crucial for tenant income stability. When companies consider new locations, they look for specific factors:
            • Population over 1 Million: Companies need a large, skilled workforce and robust infrastructure.
            • Low Crime Rates: High crime deters businesses and residents.
            • Low Operating Costs: Companies seek locations that allow them to remain competitive, avoiding areas with high taxes and regulations.
            • Low Risk of Natural Disasters: Companies are wary of areas prone to natural disasters that can disrupt operations. State average homeowners insurance rates indicate the risk of natural disasters.

          Information Sources for Data-Driven Decision Making

          Utilize these resources to gather the necessary data for your city selection process:

          The Importance of Local Expertise

          While research and data are essential, remember that general knowledge only goes so far. Each property is unique, requiring specific renovations and compliance with local regulations. An experienced investment team can provide invaluable assistance in finding, vetting, inspecting, renovating, and managing properties effectively in your chosen market. They bring local knowledge and expertise that can significantly increase your chances of success.

          Christine, I hope this helps.

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        • Justice Bowers
          Real Estate Agent · Fort Worth, TX · Member since 2024 · 22 posts · 1 vote
          1y

          Hey Christine! Dallas-Fort Worth, TX is a great area to invest in. It has grown to become a top 4 MSA in the nation and is continuing to grow with a number of fortune 500 companies moving their headquarters to the area. A great aspect of Fort Worth is the affordability that the market still offers. In the largest MSA's investors and tenants are priced out of the market, like what you are experiencing right now. 

          We currently have new construction duplexes available in and below the $400k price point in Fort, Worth.

          Additionally, Birmingham, AL is another great market to invest in. The extremely low property tax rate allows for a lower operating expense and higher cash flow.

          Both of these states are landlord friendly too!

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        • Andrew SyriosPro Member
          Moderator
          Residential Real Estate Investor · Kansas City, MO · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 5k+ votes
          1y

          Your best bet are the (relatively speaking) higher cash flow markets in the midwest and southeast and perhaps a few in the rust belt. Where I'm at in KC is pretty good (although nowhere near what it was). And markets like Tulsa, Memphis, Nashville, Indianapolis and the like are your best bet for cash flow on holds. 

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        • Dustin Demeter
          Real Estate Agent · OK · Member since 2024 · 9 posts · 5 votes
          1y

          Hi Christine! Congrats on your rental property in LA! I'm from Santa Barbara and moved to Oklahoma to get my foot in the door in real estate. Oklahoma has landlord friendly laws, appreciating areas and impressive cash flow (in the right spots). Feel free to reach out if you'd like to hear more about the market! I'd love to help a fellow Californian out!

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        • Lauren Perry
          Realtor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2017 · 87 posts · 48 votes
          1y

          Indianapolis is a great market to consider. Happy to connect if you’d like to learn more about opportunities here. 

          0Reply
        • Keagan Scott
          Realtor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2017 · 41 posts · 14 votes
          1y

          Hey Christine,

          You're smart to look outside of LA for better rental opportunities! Indianapolis is a great market for both long-term and short-term rentals, especially within your $400K budget. You can find solid single-family homes, small multi-families, or even short-term rental properties in high-demand areas like downtown Indy or near major universities and hospitals.

          Indy has strong rental demand, landlord-friendly laws, and a relatively low cost of entry compared to major coastal markets. The key is picking the right neighborhood—some areas appreciate well and attract great tenants, while others may have higher cash flow but come with management challenges.

          I work with out-of-state investors and can help you analyze deals, connect you with the right property managers, and build a solid investment strategy here. Let me know if you'd like to chat!

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        • Alan AsriantsBusiness Member
          Real Estate Agent · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2019 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
          1y

          There are plenty of places that can be solid investments under $400k Out of state. If you do decide on an area, please go visit and spend time in that area and get to really know it and the team you plan on working with before investing into it. Its hard to trust agents, contractors, management companies, etc in our own backyards, let alone out of state. 

          Walk through the neighborhoods being recommend and ask yourself this very simple question:

          Would I live here? If the answer is no, dont invest. If it is a yes, do a bit more research. 

          Good luck 

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