Where to invest rental property

Question

Hey everyone,I am 35 years old and planning to focus on real estate in this upcoming years after gaining around 150K dollars. I am looking to buy and hold properties and debating which city to invest in in the upcoming years.My focus will be on rental properties and areas that have good potential for value increase.I am debating between Indianapolis, Columbus and Milwaukee. Which one can you recommend? Any advice/ideas would be greatly appreciated:)

Jonathan Klemm · Answer

@Chen Lerner - How come you are looking at Milwaukee and Columbus? Do you live near either of those two areas? Personally, I would start building a team of people in those areas. I know up in MKE @Marcus Auerbach, @Matt Maurice, and @Rebecca Knox have a great pulse on that market.

Remington Lyman · Answer

I recommend investing in Columbus, Ohio. Our job and population growth has been booming (pre-COVID). Disclaimer: I am biased since I live, work and play here.

Account Closed · Answer

Hey @Chen Lerner,I haven't heard much about Milwaukee and Indianapolis from my investors, so I would love to hear why you're interested in those cities.Columbus I heard has potential for growth and has relatively good cash flow.Good luck!

Chen Lerner · Answer

Hey @Jonathan Greene:) I don't leave in USA and not planning to fly to see the area it will all be managed remotly. My husband is has US citizenship if it helps:) I invested in Greece and Liverpool before but today I am doing a course of Real estate investing in USA to focus on this area.

Mikael Winkler · Answer

@Chen Lerner I would definitely recommend reading Long Distance Real Estate Investing by David Greene. I think that will give you a solid base of how to go about investing at distance strategically. It certainly can be done, I believe. You just have to be really deliberate about building a solid team you can trust...and someone in that market to hold that team accountable. What I will say about Columbus, and like @Remington Lyman, I'm biased because I live here, is it is a great, growing market. The metro area is rapidly appreciating, with plenty of opportunity for value-add through rehab. We're projected to add roughly one million people in the next 30 years, as economic growth continues, and those people will need solid places to live. With major national and regional companies like Nationwide and Huntington, "unicorn" tech startups like CoverMyMeds and Root, as well as, numerous development projects around the city, Columbus is poised for tremendous growth. Again, I'm biased because I was born and raised here. So, do you're own research and select whatever market fits your investing goals!

Jonathan Greene · Answer

First, where do you live? Why aren't you looking at your local market? Have you ever invested in real estate before? If no, going out of state may result in less cash flow because you have to trust many people who you don't know. It is possible to find great agents in those areas to assist, but you have to flesh out what your goals are first so you don't just toss money into an already saturated market.

Robert Ellis · Answer

Columbus is an excellent place to invest! Are you planning on purchasing SFH or MUH?

Mikael Winkler · Answer

@Chen Lerner I do agree with the above that Columbus is a great market to invest in. Still tons of opportunity to find value-add deals that can cashflow and build appreciation. However, I would first live here on BP and soak up as much info as you can. Be on the forums, listen to the podcasts, continue to ask questions, like you are here. As you build a solid knowledge base, your goals will probably come into focus organically. Whether that's investing in some of the markets you mentioned, or your own market. As @Jonathan Greene mentioned, don't just immediately dismiss your own market because you've heard certain others are good. Once that knowledge and goals are developed, you very well may discover your market is perfectly viable for what you're looking to do.

Caleb Brown · Answer

I would be careful about broadcasting the funds available. You want job growth, diversity, stability, and affordability if you look in the Midwest. Also as someone else said why not look local? Have you thought about house hacking?

Mike D'Arrigo · Answer

@Chen Lerner at a macro level, Columbus is a strong market in terms of economic and demographic trends. I don't know the market at the ground level so I can say how the cash flow is. I've been active in Indianapolis for 10 years and can say that Indy has a good combination of cash flow and solid economic and demographic fundamentals, Milwaukee cash flows well but it's fairly stagnant in terms of population and job growth. Of the 3 markets that you mentioned, I like Indy a lot. I would also suggest adding Kansas City to your list. KC is very similar to Indianapolis. If you have any questions about Indianapolis, feel free to reach out.