My Indianapolis REI Plan

[Nathan Christensen]

Hello BiggerPockets,

I was hoping to get some opinions on my current plan to get started in real estate.

To give you some background information, my girlfriend (25) and I (23) currently live in Honolulu where we make around 90-100k a year combined. We're both originally from the east coast. Our plan is to move to Indianapolis and find a house cheap enough to buy cash that we can fix up. We will have about 40-45k to put into a property (not including renovation costs) when we make the move.

I have some experience in carpentry and finish carpentry. We're willing to do floors, drywall, cabinets, counters, windows, fixtures, and insulation if necessary. Essentially we want to avoid plumbing, electrical, and structural issues.

What neighborhoods would suit our goals? I’ve been reading @Sterling White's guide and I’m interested in Beechgrove, Garfield Park, and Christian Park. However I have no idea what a reasonable price point is for what I’m looking for. Could anyone suggest a good way of finding heavily distressed properties? I am ideally looking for a small 2-3 bedroom home so I don't bite off more than I can chew on the first home. Is there a ball park number of what I should expect to pay for a single family home under 1500 square feet? I know there is lots more research I’ll need to do; I’m looking for more of a starting point than an all inclusive answer. 

The long term plan is to HELOC the property when we are finished and use that as a fund to BRRRR other properties. I want to know if our 40-45k budget is enough to get into a home or if we should change our strategy entirely and plan on using financing.

Thank you in advance!