What to look for when buying out of State

[Alex Jaime]

Hello BP family I am new at real estate investing and I need some help. I Currently live in Hawaii where the housing market as most of you know is pretty high. I am looking to invest in SFH out of State but I don't know where to start looking and how to go about looking for the right places to invest in. I hear through word of mouth and podcasts of places where people are having great returns on their investments for example I heard Atlanta Georgia, Jacksonville Florida and couple others but Im not quite sure what makes them great areas to invest in. I guess my question would be when I do my homework on where to invest what are some key things to look for on a more macro level? How can I get a better picture of the whole if Ive never seen or been there?

[Douglas Larson]

Hmmmm . . . sites for reliable, free information on real estate investing? 

Dude! You're on the 800 pound gorilla! Before Josh Dorkin started BP, there was nothing, except for biased marketing squeeze pages from "gurus" trying to sell you their so-called "turn-key rentals" or over-priced "coaching packages" or seminars and boot-camps! Now, if you have a question about REI, this is the site!!!! Search any term like in the upper right and you will find enough reading/listening material to last a month.

A bit of advice from one haole guy: Try to imagine buying a rental or two in Hilo, where properties are a bit cheaper and renters are common, but not 100% reliable. (No offense to any folks in Hilo). Then, imagine trying to renovate, manage, and maintain properties 3,000 miles further than the Big Island.  Yikes! 

Instead, there have been some great BP podcasts and threads in the forums about new investors adding great value to seasoned investors by finding motivated sellers or managing small renovation projects or even answering phones. If you can cut your teeth by hooking up with some local Oahu investors, you can make some cash, learn a ton, and probably find a deal or two near you. One thing that works great in Hawaii is house-hacking! On Maui I used 3 different SFRs as Multi-unit dwellings. I would live in the Ohana units and rent out the bulk of the homes for some good money. Anyway, just my 2 cents.

Happy Hunting!