First Out of State Deal: What you wish you knew before buying

[Jared Cheney]

Hello Bigger Pockets family, long-time podcast listener and forum reader, first-timer poster!

Quick back story: I bought my first rental property (1/1 condo) here in my hometown of San Diego 1 year ago. Ever since I learned about REI (about 3 years ago), I've loved the idea of consistent cash-flow rentals from a high-volume of doors. As is very well-known, San Diego is not known for it's cash flow but for it's appreciation. With that in mind, I've been preparing for the last year for my first out of state purchase.

After doing some research, my friend (partner) and I have decided to focus on Kansas City, MO. Specifically, SFR ~$70k or small multis ~$100k. I have read quite a few posts on here talking about how 'saturated' it is and how 'there are no more good deals' there thanks to the sheer number of people looking for such deals. From what we can tell, it still makes sense to buy there (even if cash flow isn't at it's all-time-best).

The point of this post is to ask those of you who have already made an out of state purchase, 'What do you wish you knew before buying your first out of state deal?' Any regrets? Anything you wish you could have done differently? And to those who are considering making their first purchase, what are your biggest concerns/worries?

As prepared as we are, there will always be a tad bit of fear. Or anxiousness. Or whatever you want to call it. Just like many of us are nervous about our very first deal, we too are nervous about our first one out of state. For us, this nervousness does not stem from being unprepared, but rather from the thought of experiencing something we have never experienced.

Any feedback here is welcome, and would be great to start a conversation. Also, if there are any Kansas City agents reading this, we will be coming out there in about a month or two and would love to have some solid connections with an agent who understands the REI side of things. Feel free to DM me, if that's you. :)

Thanks for reading and for any advice you might offer.

Happy investing!