Novice Looking for a Bit of a Roadmap

[Cole Holloway]

Hey guys and gals. I want to start this post by saying thank you for taking the time to read it (if you do so). I'll try to keep it short and sweet. Over the last few months my wife and I have become incredibly excited about real estate investing and I just recently finished Brandon Turner's book on Rental Property Investing. It was a great read but obviously there's so much more information to gather and acquire that it can be overwhelming. 

My wife and I are considering a move to be in an area more conducive to our future investing so I want to be as prepared and diligent as possible and put us in a great area (right now we're in Denver and while I know that great deals can be found anywhere, it feels like a bit of an uphill battle here). I'm currently finding myself experiencing a bit of analysis paralysis looking over all the information on this site alone. My questions are this:

1) Do you guys have any opinions on how a newbie might tackle all of the information present on the BiggerPockets site (Blog Posts, Forums, Videos, etc.)? Or how you might have approached it in your own past?

2) If you know of any good, data supported articles on some of the best places in the country for real estate investing at the moment (particularly buy and hold/cash flow oriented)?

Thank you all again for any responses and I appreciate your time.

[Enrique Huerta]

Hi Cole, congrats to you and your wife on the decision to become real estate investors. It is always awesome to see someone willing to do whatever it takes to make a reality happen (aka moving locations). Best of luck in that regard!

1) Yes. I would make a list of the biggest questions I have. Where are the gaps in my knowledge? After reading the book, what are the topics that confused me and intrigued me? Then pick 1 and start there. I'd pick a single topic and read a handful of articles or watch a handful of videos. 

2) Yes. Marcus & Millichap Research. CBRE Research. IRR Research. Axiometrics. Google these websites and download their reports. The unfortunate reality is that a lot of these reports are out the window due to COVID-19. HOWEVER, fundamentally strong markets WILL recover and bounce back so there is value in looking through these reports. With that said, below are some metrics I would focus on:

• Population Growth
• Job Growth
• Median Household Income Growth
• Household Formation
• Job Diversity
• No New Supply Imbalances relative to current inventory

In general, the Midwest is recognized as a strong cash flow market (but it is NOT risk free) with good deals in Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Minnesota, etc. The reality is that (as you said before) you an find good deals anywhere. If you're in Denver and not looking to immediately move, start with Northern Colorado or Colorado Springs. The Cash Flow is a lot better and the prices are lower.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I am doing a real estate video series online so any questions you have I will put together a video for you. Feel free to message me or reply here.

Talk soon!@