Newbie out of state investor - DFW or DEN

[Siddharth Mankikar]

Hello everyone, 

I am a newbie investor based in the SF Bay Area and my wife and I are looking to buy a SFR home in either North Texas or Denver as a rental investment in the next 1-3 months. Our budget is around $400,000 and the goal is to have rental occupancy. Having graduated from and lived in the DFW area for over 5 years, I am quite familiar with the suburbs there. But the lure of the mountains and a growing influx of tech workers from the bay area makes Denver attractive as well. Also, short to mid-term impact of Covid-19 (due to new possibilities of remote work) is also on our minds. Of course Denver may be a bit pricier as well.

Considering our main goal of renter occupancy, is one market better than the other? 

[James Carlson]

@Siddharth Mankikar

You can certainly get into the DFW market for a lower price point than you could in Denver. And I always tell people that they should buy first where they live. Get some hands-on experience and then expand out-of-state.

Now ... I have to say, Denver's pretty great. And if you have any interest in having a place in a city that's nice, then maybe you consider it here. And one other thought. We now have two cities in the metro area that either are allowing or are considering allowing Airbnb investment properties. (I'm talking about Arvada, which passed a law to allow STR investments in August and Littleton, which is about to vote on a law that would allow you to buy a short-term rental for investment.) Both of those cities have their own charming little downtown with bars and restaurants and shops and are both within 20 minutes of downtown Denver.

Soooo ... you could buy an STR, make some decent cash flow on it, watch it appreciate in this crazy market and also have a place to stay if you want to vacation in the Denver area. Just a thought.