All Forum Posts by: Cameron Tope

Hi you! 

We are considering investing in Houston as foreign investors (from Belgium), our goal is to find and start with a long-term rental single or multi family home. We would buy this house all cash. Any recommendations when it comes to: 
- Real estate agents we should work with? 
- Property Managers that you would highly recommend? 
- A list of ZIP codes that are classified as label B areas? 

Anything you can think of that is relevant for us to know, please drop it below :) 
Thanks !! 

Many investors in the Bay Area are turning their attention to midwest markets, such as Ohio, in search of cash flow opportunities. Below is some information about home prices in Ohio, sourced from Google AI. In many of the C-class neighborhoods, rental rates are exceeding the expenses for investors.

As of April 2024, the median price of a home in Ohio was $238,700, which is a 4.7% increase from April 2023. However, home prices vary depending on location:

• Cincinnati: $319,310
• Columbus: $348,569
• Dayton: $261,583
• Ashland and Athens: Around $203,000
• Mansfield and Lancaster: Less than $200,000

Ohio's home prices are expected to continue to increase.

Hello BiggerPockets community,

My wife and I purchased a house in Katy, TX a few years ago for $230k, right before the market surged. We secured a 3.2% interest rate and currently owe about $200k. The house is now worth approximately $315k.

Initially, we thought we'd stay here long-term, but we ended up with a larger house than we need. We've decided we want to move further out and get a few acres. Additionally, my commute is 25 miles each way.

Here's our plan:

1. **Lease our current house**: We believe leasing our house could be a good idea.

2. **Buy a mobile home**: We plan to buy a mobile home and place it on a leased lot 13 minutes from my office.

3. **Save money**: With reduced expenses (gas, power, tolls, etc.), we estimate that we will be about to increase our savings from about $600 per month to about $2,000 per month.

4. **Future plans**: After a few years, we aim to put a down payment on a piece of land and move the mobile home there.

Our goals are to build equity in our current house while working towards owning a nice piece of land and maybe eventually building a nice house on it.

**Questions:**

- I have no idea if my calculations on what the my costs for leasing the house are anywhere near accurate. My current payment with taxes and insurance is $1613/month(this is with pmi of $85/month. I just submitted a request to remove it). I'm seeing similarly sized homes leasing in my area for $2300/month. How big of an impact is losing the homestead exemption?

- How should I start with this? What do I need to learn? Are there any books I need to read?

- How do I find a tenant and manage a lease?

I'm not sure if this plan sounds crazy but my wife is on board and I think it's probably a good path to getting us where we want to be. I'm also not afraid of a little hard work but I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and would appreciate any advice or guidance on where to start and what to focus on.

Thank you!

 I've used the brick and mortar PM's (Evernest) with mixed luck. I saw a few people on BP that were using the "mom n pop" and recommended her. Just trying to find an honest service for an honest dollar. 

Hi everyone,

I am looking to purchase something fairly soon.  I have a down payment of approximately $100k.  I am looking for a very good deal in a good location.  I prefer not to deal with areas that have harsh winters.  Can someone please recommend some good markets to look in where I can get the most for money and where the investment would be relatively safe?  I want a property that is in somewhat good repair that only needs a bit of a face lift (on a scale of 1-100, I want a property that is above 75).  I am located in California and definitely do not want to invest here due to the overly tenant friendly laws.  Would prefer somewhere with landlord friendly laws.

Thank you in advance!

Ed