How to even start with Investment Properties....Prefer Out of State

[Casey Serafino-Lee]

Hi

I am a newbie investor. I am interested in investing out of state as I live in California and our tenants rights are awful here. It is so difficult to get rid of bad tenants....plus the ROI here is not great.

I am open to any state outside of CA and more interested in the mid-west. I am thinking about purchasing a turn-key investment or maybe just a property off MLS and hiring a property manager. I have a full-time job, plus I do real estate on the side so my plate is full and cannot do a fix and flip.

If you were me, what steps would you do to start?  Contact a lender first to see what I can afford?  Find a rental market first?   How do I even find a good rental market.  (I plan on purchasing and holding.)

In addition, I want to put my property in an LLC, so I am not sure how to factor that in.

Anyone that has DONE any of these steps, any advice you have is appreciated.  

Thanks!

Casey