New Investor in Connecticut

[Aamir Syed]

Hi all! I'm new to the forums. I've been interested in REI for rental properties for some time and have begun reading "The Book on Rental Property Investing".

My wife and I recently moved to CT and really love the area. 

I'll be spending the next two years building up my startup capital (I've calculated that I can save approx 20K/year), researching where I want to invest and creating the necessary connections (ie -- other landlords, real estate agents, attorneys, CPAs, contractors, property management etc...). This way I can hit the ground running when I'm ready to purchase a home. 

The areas I'm looking in are: New Britain, Hamden, Middletown. I saw a few of you had properties in New Britain, can anyone share their experiences? What are realistic expectations in terms of cash flow?

I'm looking forward to interacting with you all!

[Steve Rozenberg]

When you are looking at what type of deal is a good deal and where is a good deal for you. I would say that you need to be very cautious in asking this question, the reason is this is the "HOW" part of investing which in my opinion is the 2nd part of the equation.I think you need to focus on the first part of the equation which is the “Why”. Focusing on “YOUR" goals and what you want as a result of owning real estate is the most important. Sit back and ask what and how your life will be impacted as a result of owning real estate assets. The result of owning is what?? is it cash flow, appreciation, 1031, pass down to family as a legacy, this is also what your exit strategy will be. Not many people think about the end goal and the exit strategy when looking at deals. I know because I was one of those people. I kept asking if a certain deal was a good or bad deal and would go with concensus of people and make my decision. However if I ever created goals and an exit strategy then I would have realized that these properties did not align with my goals. I think it aligned more with their goals which to no fault of their own, were not even close to my goals. So my strategy (my “How”) did not align with my goals (my “Why”).. and this was disastrous for me.
Focus on the goal end destination. Then you build your strategy that’s going to get you to your goals it’s kind of like where you’re driving to is the end destinations and the freeways are the strategy that will get you there.
No one ever asked or advised me on this and it almost made me bankrupt. Don’t ask if it’s a good or bad deal, have your definitions and strategy set first. Then focus on the market / city that will get you to your goal based on the strategy. That’s my advice I give to owners and leads that want to buy or learn to buy investment properties, we manage thousands of properties and 50/60% of our clients are new to real estate or learning how to truly build wealth and do not live locally or in the same state or country. 
I always stress them knowing what is a good deal for them, not for me. To me that’s helping people build wealth, not just telling them to buy or not to buy.

Good luck to you