All Forum Posts by: Teesh L.

 I am about to close on my 3rd property in the last 1.5 years, all out of country, all managed remotely, all cash flow positive. i have about 8+ years of experience. i own condos in Vancouver and Toronto in Canada, which I self manage. but the property management and my involvement is minimal as those condos were purchased as pre-sale and are in really good condition. the only time consuming tasks would be screening tenants, minor repairs when tenants move out, or minor appliance improvements during a tenancy if necessary. i also own SFRs in DFW and Atlanta. i found an amazing company that I work with in the US that sources deals for me and helps me grow and scale my portfolio so I haven't had to do much legwork other than the research I did to find this company.  

wow, wish i was this proactive when I was 20, I'm very impressed! 
as a new real estate investor, I would personally suggest exploring turnkey properties. turnkey can do all of the management, tenanting, and take care of all landlord duties for you. it's a great segue in my opinion as you can learn through this experience and when you have more ability to sink time and capital into a property, then you can house hack and BRRRR. that's what i would do if i were new to REI and starting my portfolio. i think these are really good articles that can help you get started and answers your question if now is a good time to buy.

https://blog.sharesfr.com/inve...

https://blog.sharesfr.com/turn... 

it's really difficult to answer that question as there is no right or wrong time to buy. when numbers make sense for YOU that's the right time to buy. i am about to close on my 3rd investment property in the last 1.5 years in Atlanta and while i'm a landlord i don't have any of the landlord duties because i work with a turnkey company. i wont lie i was nervous about the interest rate hikes and mortgage qualifications but speaking on a very high level, it's about finding the properties that fit your criteria and that you can afford. i like to think about my properties in hindsight - if it's a good deal today then 90% of the time it'll become a great deal down the road. real estate is a long game, not for short term flips (with inventory shrinking it's getting very hard to find distressed properties you can renovate for cheap and still profit. you have to know the market, you have to know rental demand, you need quality tenants, you need to know how to refinance, etc.) if you want to chat further feel free to DM me! good luck :) 

I’m definitely biased because these are where I own Single family rental properties: DFW and Atlanta. I’m Canadian and would only consider investment properties in Vancouver or Toronto but both are extremely overpriced, so not cash flowing. The company I work on my portfolio with scours data and handles all the heavy lifting to source properties in the “best” markets that fit our wish lists and sold us on DFW and Atlanta. About to close on our 3rd property with them, our 2nd in Atlanta.you have to look at a lot of factors but why we were sold: they’re both top 10 US metros, lower price points, lower cost of living compared to other major metros, have solid employment economies, lots of Fortune 500 HQs, growing population, high rental demand because of the previous points, etc. 

you have to filter through the noise and opinions because there are a lot of great cash flowing markets out there as per the replies in this thread, but at the end of the day the decision of where to invest is based on how you can make sense of the numbers. Cap rates, annual appreciation, IRR… to start though you should check out these articles on DFW and Atlanta
https://blog.sharesfr.com/spot...
https://blog.sharesfr.com/spot...

may i ask why you feel that house hacking is the preferred strategy? it sounds like it's going to bring on a lot more headaches to your employment situation than its worth.

I was lucky enough to have purchased my 2 bedroom pre-sale condo in Vancouver in 2015 when prices were still 'palatable', it's been rented out to the same tenant since then, which means that I have been unable to increase his rent to match the market rate (the difference I could be making is $1000+ per month difference!!!!). don't forget that strata fees only go up, my owners insurance has increased too, and the recent interest rate hikes have affected my monthly mortgage payments. in short, it's awesome I am a landlord in vancouver but there is little to no cash flow and i am bound by very strict tenant laws (something you must look into before investing anywhere).

of course we're all here because we know real estate is the best way to generate wealth and passive income, but there are no cash flowing opportunities in Vancouver or Toronto (the only cities my partner and i would consider investing in within Canada). which is why we looked at investing in the states. we have invested in Scottsdale (we self-managed and DO NOT recommend for out of country investors if you're working full time), and sold everything in 2019. Last year we got back into investing but specifically into SFRs and this time we knew what we needed from a property management perspective. We lucked out with a turnkey company we were referred to that helped us every step of the way from sourcing to taxes and refinancing. We now own in DFW and Atlanta. If you're interested feel free to DM me! 

Lots of advice in this thread! We all have to do our due diligence in researching and calculating, buying real estate is not something to be rushed. But to answer your question - I would diversify that $190K cash within real estate. I definitely think investing in multiple properties OOS is the way to go. you can build up equity, have steady cash flow, and scale your portfolio, as the properties appreciate (this is your long term hold strategy). The downside of OOS investing is you need a really strong property management company in each of those areas which can be challenging to find. Mentally AND financially it can be more beneficial to invest OOS. i work with a company that sources properties for you, underwrites them, calculates the ROI, renovates them, tenants them, and manages the property after closing. Please feel free to reach out if you want to learn more.

The hardest part is getting started! All of the advice here is super valid but I felt overwhelmed just reading some of it. It's labor intensive, and if you're out of state, it's even more time-consuming just to vet the agents, property managers, look over all the properties, etc. Not to mention the calculations!! I have been working with a company for over a year and half now, about to acquire our 3rd rental property through them. Would be happy to chat with whoever wants to know more. They helped me and my partner get refinancing, get our taxes in order (we're Canadian remotely investing in the US), renovate, tenant and manage the property. They just pivoted to a new model but they used to sell homes they own but now they can source properties based on what your criteria are (purchase price, risk profile, neighborhood rating, etc). They still do all the calculations, renovate, tenant and manage the property. 

I would keep renting and use your money saved up to invest in SFR(s) out of state where it's likely much cheaper. It's hard saving up for a downpayment and based on where you're located I would imagine you have enough saved up that would maaaaaybe get you 1 house in OC (which you'd live in, and not make any money off of) but what you have saved could allow you to purchase multiple properties out of state.

When you hire a property manager depends on where your properties are, how much work they require, how much time you have, etc. Personally for me, we are local and out of country investors so I highly recommend spending the extra money for good property management for the properties further away. I learned the hard way that time is money. Unless the properties you're buying are new enough to require little to no repairs/renos/maintenance. Like the condos we rent out where we live are quite handsoff because we purchased them as pre-sales.However the cash flow is limited with expensive prices where we live, which is why we looked at out of country investing. I had a few properties (single family home, townhouse, duplex) in Scottsdale few years ago but was really burned by the whole experience with the property manager we worked with. First of all, we were VERY hands on... too much so. We had to micromanage the property manager... ended up even flying to Scottsdale multiple times each year to handle tenants and the property ourselves. We ended up selling everything in 2019. It was also such a headache finding the right accountants to handle annual taxes. Felt like nothing was working out smoothly for us. So we sold everything in 2019. But last year we decided to get back into out-of-country investing since prices in the States are so much friendlier (Canadian here). I knew from my previous experiences that I needed a GOOD full time property manager, and I did not want the landlord duties. I found a great turnkey service and have been working with them since in DFW and Atlanta. Minimal headaches. Cash flow is good, and projected to improve later this year. DM me if you want to chat! 

not sure if we should wait for the market to settle... if it will settle anytime in the near future. we're looking for our next single family rental property. wanted to see what the overall consensus is out there on the time to buy.

Hi @Derek Elliott just my 2 cents and don't want to scare you off but I would seriously consider 7% renter occupied. Especially for an out of state investment, you don't want to be stuck with a vacant home! What other areas were you looking at? I recently invested in a SFH in Arlington, DFW, also out of state (out of country) for us. An obvious consideration was the rental market in the area. Pretty high level numbers out there, but we're close enough to corporate headquarters we are confident there's enough rental demand. Also close to schools, etc. DFW has something like over 59% are renters and occupancy rates are 93%.