Remote vs. Local Investment pros and cons

[Scott K.]

I live in and own a 2-family home in NYC and this has worked out well for me so far.

I'm looking to purchase a 2nd property, but I'm not sure if doing so locally would make for the most profitable opportunity. On one hand, RE prices in NYC are very high. On the other, local properties would be much easier to search, buy, rehab and manage.

I'd be curious to know the community's thoughts on the matter.

[Anthony Angotti]

@Scott K.

You always have some more optimization of expenses and the benefit of area expertise buying locally, but if your area is very expensive like NYC then your cash flow likely will not work out (though I'm sure you can invest more for appreciation there).

Investing out of state you have to put a lot of trust in others and you obviously have to pay for their help. So there's not as much optimization of expenses, however if you're looking for cash flow a cheaper market will provide superior monthly income usually. If you go to an out of state city with higher cash flow, you will likely not see the same dollar figure of appreciation though (however you may be surprised by the rate). 

Just a couple off the top of my head points on the matter.