Cash Flow Markets with the Best Prospects Over Next Few Decades

[Scott Trench]

OK - So I've dismissed personally investing in turnkey markets for a while, mostly because I have unrelenting faith in the long-term prospects of my home city of Denver, CO. BUT, I have now bought a substantial amount (for me) of property in Denver, and do not want to make my next purchase here until sometime in 2018. 

In the meantime, I'm considering making my first out of state investment. And I want to research top down and then bottom up. Top-down - if I'm going out of state, I want to go with a city that produces great cash-flow per dollar invested, but is still large enough to travel to. I'd like to know which city like this has excellent prospects in the eyes of the community. Once I've narrowed that down a bit, I'll begin my research and visiting of that city, and go through the process of becoming familiar with what's a good deal and what isn't, building a team, etc.

So please let me know, what are some good cities with great prospects, cities that are not already expensive? 

Where should I be looking here? 

I am NOT only interested in cash flow. The prospects and potential of a city/market are super important to me. Cash flow is of course a huge part of the analysis, but I believe there are at least a dozen major markets I can go to get solid cash flow in an acceptable range. I want the prospects as well. 

Cities that I've been thinking about include:

Dallas

Jacksonville

Cincinnati

Louisville

Atlanta

Charlotte

Kansas City

Detroit

I'm sure there are some that I have failed to consider, and some among here that I should stop considering. Hence why I am attempting to crowdsource your feedback here. Thanks in advance!

[Jered Sturm]

@Scott Trench We are active in ATL and Cincinnati. In my opinion, the fundamentals of Atlanta are rock solid. However many people agree with that and are paying handsomely for those fundamentals. I would argue that many are overpaying on the future prospects of those positive fundamentals. This has all but squeezed cash flow out of most areas unless you're willing to really dig for deals which of course is a ton of work. I have not been buying in ATL markets but I have been actively trying. I just can't seem to make sense of anything. 

Cincinnati, on the other hand, does not have the economic fundamentals that ATL has and likely never will but its strong enough to feel stable and the cash flow is still there especially in the smaller (under 60 unit) properties including 1-4 unit buildings. Being from Cincinnati, growing up there, starting our REI business there I know the market very well. The barrier to entry that seems to hold out of state investors back from succeeding in Cincy in these smaller properties is the property management. For some reason I have never been able to understand, there are no good 3rd party management companies in Cincinnati who focus on small properties. As our portfolio grew we vertically integrated and built a management arm to oversee our portfolio this has worked for us.

If you'd like to talk more on either market feel free to reach out. I am happy to share current deals we are buying in Cincy if that would be helpful for your research. 

Best of luck!