Hi I am just starting out, figured I would make an introduction!

[Eric Turner]

Hi my name is Eric. I am just getting into REI. I am looking to make my first purchase, I am interested in buying and holding, but also flipping. I live in the greater Seattle area on the North end and don't have the capital to invest locally. So I am looking outside my area. Not much close to home would work for me from MLS listings. I haven't found any off market deals, though I haven't really tried much, besides driving for dollars.

I have been considering investing remotely. It doesn't bother me not being able to visit the property. Technology negates most of my concerns regarding this. I would of course prefer to kick the tires on a property, but in the end I would be using a qualified professional, whether local or a thousand miles away, to keep me informed on pertinent information. I plan to use a property management company whether local or remote.

I currently have $10,000 I am willing to invest and another $10,000 I plan to use for repairs, vacancy, etc... I am able to set aside an additional $2000-$4000 per month specifically for investing. So I am considering buying a $30k-$50k SFR rental and testing the waters. If I like it, by then I should have enough saved up for another. I plan to stay in the same area, and hopefully build a small team there and then branch out to multi families and more expensive rehabs. If this is terrible idea please let me know!

I own my own business and work from home. I have built it up so it only requires about 20 hours per week to run. I love what I do, and I am happy with my financial situation, but I have quite a bit of extra free time now. And real estate has always been something that I have enjoyed researching, studying, and talking about even though I have never invested. I have always rented.

My major weakness is going to be networking. I love helping others, but I have a hard time asking for help.

All advice is appreciated and I look forward to becoming an active member on these forums and helping any way I can. Thanks

[Justin Marshall]

Welcome to the group Eric.  There are a variety of areas you could invest in within the 30-50k market.  Only thing I would say in that price point is the caliber of neighborhoods as well as the tenants.  I tried that path and had to jump my price points up to the 75-125k range to get a better pool of properties and tenants to choose from.  I also have found that I now have long term tenants as apposed to yearly or monthly.  That's my experience with what you are proposing.  Hope this helps and good luck.