All Forum Posts by: Jennifer Cramer

I'm a new member and this is my first post so please go easy on me! I'm interested in investing in my first LTR or MTR. I have a full-time job in NYC and travel excessively for work so I will need a property manager. My goal is geared towards long-term wealth and eventually reaching a point where I don't have to work as hard because I'll have passive income to offset some of the income I will lose when I "take my foot off the gas". I am not interested in house hacking as my plan is more centered around Buying and Holding.

The idea is to start in one area, build my team and then purchase my first property. Eventually, I hope to build my rental property portfolio in the area I choose. Initial budget is small, up to 300K with 25% down for the first property. Looking for Class A/B areas. I don't really care about making a profit off the monthly rent in the short-term (though it will be nice!), I just want to build equity and not "lose" money. Right now, I can't even narrow it down by state, much less city!!! Here are my options:

1) Georgia - my old company was headquartered in ATL so I know the area well and have friends in the surrounding areas. Hower, it seems really over saturated so not sure if I should still look there

2) NC - I'm drawn to this state but am not as familiar with the cities. Looked at the Wilmington area but open to any suggestions

3) NY - upstate, NYC or even far out in LI (mastic Beach?). It's my home state but property and taxes are so expensive outside of the city and in NYC you're dealing with maintenance fees, boards etc. I just think my money will go further elsewhere

3) Maine - I'm drawn here because eventually I want a second home in this state but this is my heart talking, not my brain

My question is, how did you go about deciding where you to invest? What resources did you use? Who did you talk to initially? Does anyone have feedback on any of the areas I listed above? Are there other areas I should consider? I realize this is incredibly broad, so I apologize but I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. Once I narrow it down, I feel like I will move but right now I'm stuck. Thanks in advance for your help. Looking forward to learning from all of you.

Hi Jennifer, I'd recommend that you look into Columbus Ohio and as someone who works with a lot of out of state investors - there's so many catalysts for why you should invest here. Specifically, there's job growth (Intel, Honda, Amazon, Nationwide, etc) and the population is growing (unlike Cleveland or Cincy). I really see Columbus Ohio as an extremely safe bet for the next 10-20 years. Plus, there's still so many positive cash flowing and 1% deals here in Columbus Ohio. As a local investor and agent here in Columbus, let me know if you have any questions or want to connect!

Thank you@Jimmy Lieu! Looks like ME and NY are off my list and OH and CT have been added :) Appreciate the offer to conenct!

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Quote from @Matt W.:

Quote from @Jennifer Cramer:

1) Georgia - my old company was headquartered in ATL so I know the area well and have friends in the surrounding areas. Hower, it seems really over saturated so not sure if I should still look there

2) NC - I'm drawn to this state but am not as familiar with the cities. Looked at the Wilmington area but open to any suggestions

Wilmington, NC has exploded in the last 10 years. I don't think it's possible to get a class A or B for under $300k. There are plenty of cookie cutter neighborhoods that are B- that make great rentals, but it's pretty hard to cash flow them with current rates even managing yourself. I own several rentals and flip here and competition for any deal is fierce!

I actually have a furnished rental for sale that would be a good Airbnb or mid term/nurse rental. (Short term is too involved for me, I've discovered)

PM me if you'd like to know more!

I've been looking and Wilmington has gone up in pricing as has the Charlotte/Raleigh area. I kept it on the list because the area is so appealing and was hoping that whatever I invest in will build equity over time. STR might be too labor intensive for me (might be something way later down the line) but MTR is interesting. Will PM you. I was also looking at High Point/Greenville too but don't know enough about the area except that I bought furniture from there and there's a pretty nice University!

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Quote from @Sam McCormack:

Quote from @Jennifer Cramer:

1) Georgia - my old company was headquartered in ATL so I know the area well and have friends in the surrounding areas. Hower, it seems really over saturated so not sure if I should still look there

2) NC - I'm drawn to this state but am not as familiar with the cities. Looked at the Wilmington area but open to any suggestions

Try Greater Cincinnati! If you like, we can just schedule a call and talk about what is your. 300k is more than enough to get a good 2-4 unit in a good area, that is (on paper) going to cash flow! And not just Cincinnati, Northern Ky as well. Growing area, more jobs, growing community, a few colleges, and good sports teams. Let me know, we can hop on a call and talk about what this area has to offer!

LOL - OH was added to my list and Maine and NY were removed :) Not looking to purchase until closer to Feb but will reach out to chat if you're not opposed. Thank you

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Quote from @Sandra Morrison:

@Jennifer Cramer

Definitely wherever you end up-if you choose a place where you don't (or even if you do) have connections- join the local REIA. They always have recommended contractors and other vendors.

If you travel too much, Columbus and Cincinnati ones are completely online so great way to get education for any strategy and recommendations (plus they have an online women’s investing group that I volunteer with hosting responsibilities ;-)

The hard part is getting a good team. Until you get one, it is nice to be able to pop in. I invest in Ohio, Kentucky and Florida and definitely lean on my boots on the ground in each state.

Appreciate the recommendation to join local groups where you're thinking of investing. Will do that next and love that Columbus and Cincinnati have virtual sessions.

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Quote from @Doug Smith:

Very interesting and good post. I started sort of backwards. I started out over 30 years ago in consumer finance and mortgage before moving to FL in 1996. I jumped to banking, then private client banking, and then commercial banking, so I had a massive lending background going in. We originally started this company not as a lender (except for commercial bridge loans), but as a fund that purchased severely delinquent real estate loans backed by commercial real estate and deep discounts from the collateral value during the last crash. We eventually split the companies in two...one a lender and one a real estate and loan buyer. With the lender, it was easy to go all over the country for commercial (primarily real estate investor) loans, but we found that sticking close to home, or at least having great boots on the ground that we trust, was the only want to do the real estate rehabbing and construction side of the business. Many have been successful doing absentee investments...we've just done better sticking to Central Florida. Regarding the areas, I've always struggled with NYC due to the high prices and the fact that attorneys really drag out the process and run up the bill. I know nothing about Maine other than making a few loans there, but we have done a lot in NC and, most recently, the resort areas of NE GA (Blue Ridge Mountain area). For your questions in the last paragraph, we did try the midwest, but found we did better when we could pop into the project at any time. We had a couple of nightmares in different parts of Indiana that drove us to stick to where we had great boots on the ground. Who did we talk to? I had been a banker in Central FL for many years when we started, so I had the finaning part down (we financed and still do finance other investors) and I had already built a great network of closing agents, contractors, attorneys, etc through my banking work. Most were previous clients I had developed a relationship with. As far as other areas, Florida still has no income taxes and we have a strong positive net migration. Inventory is incredibly low here, so it's ripe for those that wish to build more affordable-type housing. If the inventory isn't there, you can always built it! Let me know if you have questions or need help. Good luck!

Thank you for sharing your experience. I find that the order of things is not always perfect but timing is everything!!! Investing in a location that is close and/or easy to get to is key for many reasons. You were fortunate to have connections in the industry, hoping I'll get there with time. Appreciate the response and offer to help.

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Quote from @Nicholas L.:

@Jennifer Cramer

"buying in my immediate area is not as appealing due to the cost but maybe there are deals out there"

that was part of my point - expand your "immediate area" to include markets in PA and CT.

"I do wonder how others out of state investors are able to make it work from a distance"

they have teams and networks in place.

Thank you again. Based on your advice, did a little search on CT> I need to research the landlord/tenant laws but CT is super close and can be a viable option

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Quote from @Rick Albert:

The reality is you can make it work almost anywhere in the world, you just need to understand it.

Here are a few things I looked at before investing out of state:

1. Landlord Friendly (otherwise I will stick with Los Angeles since I know it so well)

2. Population over 100K (I want a tenant pool)

3. People are moving there (check out howmoneywalks.com)

4. Price point

Everyone is going to have a different opinion and you will likely get a lot of Realtors saying why their market is best (because they want the commission).

Thank you! Great advice with #1 being my biggest concern!

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Quote from @Andrew Syrios:

Welcome to BiggerPockets Jennifer!

Thank you @Andrew Syrios! Happy to be here!

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Quote from @Michael Margarella:

Welcome to BP!!! This is a great resource to address your questions on how to close and manage a larger deal.

I would say that investing in a syndication or fund could be a good fit given your situation. We pivoted to self-storage a few years ago. We like self-storage because even if there is a recession, and people downsize, those people will have a need for self-storage, as evidenced by storage occupancy rates during past recessions. And during inflationary times, our rental rates increase. We're also able to evaluate our rates, and keep pace with inflation, on a monthly and quarterly basis because of shorter term leases.

Now we syndicate larger self-storage deals and work with passive investors.

These syndication can provide an 8%+ cash-on-cash return - providing you monthly cash flow - and a 15-20% IRR over the length of the project. Happy to connect.

@Michael Margarella Thank you! I hadn't considered syndication or funds but someone else mentioned it in another thread so it's something on my list to research. Figured I'd start my journey with research no with a goal of purchasing/deciding by Feb.

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Quote from @Ecaterina Katerina Morosan:

Hi Jennifer and Welcome to BP!

Are you mostly interested in investing in NYC suburbs? If so, I think the best property type for you to explore would be small multifamily houses in Brooklyn and Queens. Brooklyn for its appreciation and higher rents, and Queens for more affordable prices. Talk to an investor-friendly lender and explore your options with the lender first, and then knowing your budget contact an investor-friendly real estate agent fir market insights and trends.

@Ecaterina Katerina Morosant I don't think investing in NYC is my first choice because of price and because the laws tend to favor tenants. At first I was thinking of upstate NY but hearing nightmare stories on tenants not paying rent and landlords not being able to evict. Right now I'm looking in the South (GA, NC) or potentially Midwest

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All Forum Posts by: Jennifer Cramer

Jennifer Cramer has started 2 posts and replied 40 times.

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Jennifer Cramer has started 2 posts and replied 40 times.

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