All Forum Posts by: Donna Johnson

@Mike Tikh, if you are going to live there, travel there and see which one you like.  

For a house hack, whether in a new market as you are noting or for people local, you need to find a place you want to live.  

I have not been to Reno, but climate is probably closer to what you have in Austin.  

The others will be cold, grey and wet from roughly November to March/April.  I know this isn't helping you narrow down your list, but only you can really do that. You can be successful buying small multis in any of these areas, you just need to learn them. 

What are the different neighborhoods like?  What are people in those neighborhoods looking for?  What is considered a good purchase price for that area?  

And then diving deeper, i.e. I love in Cincinnati, my pocket is very nice, but not a rental market.  The next neighborhood over (literally across the street) is pretty nice, but falls in a different township that has higher property tax, and then the next neighborhood (about a 4 min drive and 15 minute walk) is much lower end, and while fine class C-ish area, you can't push rents much, and the village has its own income tax, so you will pay 2% of your net to the village...

But back to first comment: take 4-5 days and travel to each.  When you pick one, rent an apartment for 6-12 months and figure out where you want to be.  Spend time around different neighborhoods.  You are going to be living there, so you might as well pick a place YOU want to live first.  Then live there before you start buying property.