Advice needed for first investment property in the US

[Carina Kaiser]

Hi There,

My husband and I just moved to Boston from Europe and would like to extend our real estate portfolio to the US. The market is completely new for us and we are currently looking for an investment property to start. (As second step we want to buy a multi-family around boston to live short-term and rent).

For the investment property we are looking for either a single family or multi family property at the east coast in the range of 200 kUSD - 300kUSD which we would pay cash. We found 2 properties in Baltimore and we were told, that it is easier in Baltimore to buy single family homes than multi-family complexes. 

First one:
4 Beds, 2 Bath, 1815 sqft

Built: 1945; renovated: 2022

Price: 245 kUSD

Location: close to Morgan State University; zoning: R-5

Second one:

3 Beds, 1.5 Bath, 2242 Sqft

Built: 1922, recent updates: updated electric, repairs to roof, bathrooms caulked

Price: 220 kUSD

Location: Close to Lake Montebello, Zoning: R-6

We are also looking in other areas but these 2 properties are our first try to explore.

Every advice is highly apreciated. Thanks a lot in advance.

BR Carina

[Kyle Curtin]

Quote from @Carina Kaiser:

Hi There,

My husband and I just moved to Boston from Europe and would like to extend our real estate portfolio to the US. The market is completely new for us and we are currently looking for an investment property to start. (As second step we want to buy a multi-family around boston to live short-term and rent).

For the investment property we are looking for either a single family or multi family property at the east coast in the range of 200 kUSD - 300kUSD which we would pay cash. We found 2 properties in Baltimore and we were told, that it is easier in Baltimore to buy single family homes than multi-family complexes. 

First one:
4 Beds, 2 Bath, 1815 sqft

Built: 1945; renovated: 2022

Price: 245 kUSD

Location: close to Morgan State University; zoning: R-5

Second one:

3 Beds, 1.5 Bath, 2242 Sqft

Built: 1922, recent updates: updated electric, repairs to roof, bathrooms caulked

Price: 220 kUSD

Location: Close to Lake Montebello, Zoning: R-6

We are also looking in other areas but these 2 properties are our first try to explore.

Every advice is highly apreciated. Thanks a lot in advance.

BR Carina

 Hi Carina! Welcome to the states! I love the direction that you are going! I second @Lien Vuong, having the local knowledge regarding drastically different markets especially when investing out of state is absolutely paramount to your success. I personally recommend searching around BP (& Facebook/Instagram/LinkedIn if you are on social media) for RE investors in some of those markets that you are very interested in as specific as you can find and sending them a direct message simply looking to connect. I have not personally invested out of state YET but have heard that “population growth” is an important metric to keep in mind when looking in markets to see the trend of people moving out or moving into areas. It has been difficult for me to try to find more recent data than like 2000 or 2010 but I’m sure it is out there somewhere. Good luck! :)