Thinking about Buy-and-Hold investing out of state. Thoughts?

[Tom Weyer]

I live on Long Island in NY and am just now trying to start out investing. I do not have lots of cash at all and it seems like most deals I analyze around me are not close to a positive cash flow. Not to mention that houses are super expensive here.

After just a little bit of time looking at properties for sale in Pittsburgh, I was able to find some deals that I believe would have good cash flow (I would obviously have to do more extensive research and come up with more accurate rent and other estimates for my analysis, but the deals seem much more feasible) and they are at asking prices low enough that I would not have to save money a year and a half just to come up with a down payment.

Do you think it would be worth it to start my REI endeavors out-of-state (even if it is not Pittsburgh)? I have not started to build my real estate network yet, so I don't know much about dealing with property management companies or agents (except the one I dealt with buying my primary residence).

If I were to go this route (Buying rentals out-of-state), could you guys give me a few tips/things to consider or even next course of action for me? I would definitely use a property management company as I want to put as little time as possible into actually managing my rentals.

Thanks a ton in advance!

[Ali Boone]

Hi Tom. I live in LA, so same problems here on the numbers, and I've always invested out-of-state. You're going to get a lot of opinions on this, and people are typically very clearly on one side or the other of the debate. 

I'm on the side of- it's totally fine and it's always worked for me (which is why I know it's not true when people say there's no way it can work).

As far as tips- it's all about the team. If you aren't local, you are trusting other people to handle your property and as much as I wish it weren't true, there are a lot of people out there who it doesn't phase a bit if they completely screw you. So your team is critical. The good news about doing it out of state and using a property manager and such is that your only job is to manage the manager. It's a very different job than rehabbing and landlording and such, but to me it's a lot easier. Still requires a bit of skill (and willingness to put your foot down), but I'd much prefer to do that than be hands-on.

Happy to chat anytime if I can be of any help!