Questions about which city to start my REI journey

[Joey Meaux]

Hi everyone, first time poster here.

I've been reading posts and listening to the BP podcast for the better part of the last 2 months and I've been researching REI off and on since finishing college.

I'm local to the Lafayette, Louisiana market and have lived here the past 8 years.  My primary interests are buy and hold on cash flow positive deals and eventually development.  Now to throw a wrench in the system, I will be moving to Denver, CO at the end of this month.  So to partially answer my own question, I've already began my journey by putting my home here in Lafayette under management.

My question is essentially which area would be better to target. As anyone in Lafayette knows, the sale market is down right now to the downturn in oil and gas. Moreover, anyone local to Denver knows how hot that market still is, albeit highly priced for entry. So would it seem more effective for me to keep growing my portfolio in Louisiana, or concentrate on potential large ROI investments in the Denver market? I realize that not everyone will have experience in both areas, but any advice helps!

Thanks and I'm very excited to start the journey!

[Bill S.]

@Joey Meaux in the long term oil prices will go up again but I don't think we are through the pain yet. Now you can not time the market but it's clear that riding it down is not a game you want to play. The Denver market still has some legs. My advise is to be in a rising market unless you are strictly looking at cash flow. For example $300K property appreciating at 10% a year will win hands down over $300K property in a declining market even if the one in the declining market puts $2,000 per month in your pocket. I know it's a bit more complicated than that and you can't bank on appreciation nor with the 10% appreciation last forever.

That said, knowledge is power and knowing your market is key to making deals so leveraging your knowledge of Lafayette could keep you in the game while you are learning the Denver market maybe something to consider. That said, I am very leery of declining markets.