Need help starting...

[William S.]

Hi All,

I've been on this site for a few months trying to get my first rental, but am at a loss still. First, thank you all for helping me out. I feel close to making my first investment, but need one last push I think. A little about me...

Goals:

Cash flow ($250-$300/m)

Acquire one rental property (single family) a year over the next three years, then payoff all (25%, 30-year fixed mortgages)

Stay small. Buy three, then pay off all (real estate isn't my only investment vehicle)

My role: investor, not handyman, landlord, etc

I currently live in Milwaukee and have been trying to find something local. However, the cities future, high property taxes, union labor (contractors), high insurance cost, and low cash on cash return (less than 9%, goal is 15%) is a problem. If I was not local, I would never consider this city. One plus is that rentals don't stay vacant for very long at all (days). I have lived in Kansas City and have family that I visit there. From an investment standpoint it seems like an obvious choice, but I am not local. Another issue, there is so much to learn so I'm afraid if I try to start from scratch things won't work out. I'm in need of guidance.

Should I simply go out of state and use a turn key provider? I know Kansas City well, but lack info on South KC, Raytown, Independence. I don't want to buy in a bad area and I'm not sure about buying out of state. At some point I will most likely move elsewhere, so I'm not sure if being local in the long run makes sense anyways. I'm only buying/holding three properties in my lifetime so I want to choose wisely. This is a long term approach...

Thoughts? Help?