All Forum Posts by: Ben Callahan

@Melissa Justice Thanks so much for the thoughtful response, Melissa! Most of my out of state connections are in Colorado so I'm not sure the numbers work well there either, so I may need to rely on local teams and deal assessment to guide me. 

@Brianna Billings Thanks, Brianna! Are you investing out of state yourself? Curious about your story being in SoCal as well. Thanks again I'll check out the links you provided!

@Nicholas L.  Thanks, Nicholas. This all makes great sense. I'll keep digging on the right market taking more into consideration my local connections and get the networking going. 

@Nadeem Alamgir Thanks, Nadeem! Appreciate the thoughts. I agree that once I lock down a market, the on-the-ground team will be able to paint a more accurate picture for deal assessment. Thanks!

@Henry Lazerow This is my thought exactly. Thanks, Henry! I love the idea of BRRR to add value, and I'm content with it not being as "fast" as it has been historically given market conditions.

@Jake Andronico Thanks, Jake. Unfortunately not able to move to house hack. I have an established career here in SoCal and am not able to relocate without a pretty significant upheaval of our lives. I'm aware that my ROI will be a little less than other starting investors given my circumstances but I'm hoping to find investments that, over the long term, will be fruitful!

@Kerlous Tadres Thanks, Kerlous! I do have some family spread around the country so maybe I'll think more about that, as I agree it would be easier to get a feel for the market without being on location as much. Also not opposed to a BRRR strategy as I like the idea of value add updates. Thanks!

@Clayton Silva Thanks so much, Clayton! I have a general budget in mind (I'd like to be no more than $80k all in), so I'm looking at properties around $250k-$300k with relatively minimal updating required. Cash flow is only important to me to the extent that initially I'd like to break even at least, since I can't house hack. Long term rent and price growth are more important to me, as well as value add updates. Of course as a relatively high W-2 earner, tax benefits are appealing to me as well, but that's just icing on the cake. Goal is to move on from W-2 as soon as feasible and set up my children for wealth in the future. Thanks!

@Eric Gerakos Thanks, Eric! Totally agree. I'm definitely looking at this as a long term commitment (I.e., not just cash flow for cash flow sake). I'd rather get a good quality property in an appreciating market even if I'm just breaking even on the cash flow side initially. Thanks!

Hi all! Currently in Southern California (so priced out of the market) and looking to start my REI journey out of state. I've been spinning my wheels for a few months now trying to find the right market and strategy. In an ideal world, I'd like to invest in small multi-family homes with some reasonable value-add opportunity. I'd like to at least break even on the cash flow side, but be in a place where, over time, there will be reasonable rent and property value growth. I don't have the ability to house hack and have no prior experience in the RE industry or construction, though I am a corporate/real estate lawyer, so that might help in some way. A few questions I'd love to pose to this group:

1. Would I be likely to meet out-of-state investors at local SoCal meetups? 

2. For out-of-state investors, how did you land on your market? Did you have previous experience there or connections to start building a team?

3. Without house hacking, what's the best way to scale efficiently? 

4. I've been having a hard time finding reliable rent info online. How do you find going rental rates for properties based on size/layout, etc.? Is there a paid service with that info or do you just use average/median figures from Zillow, etc.?

Thanks all!

-Ben