~$600,000 to Invest in Condos/Apartments - Your Advice?

[Blaise Doremus]

My good friend who is under 30 years old is interested in investing somewhere between $500,000-700,000 into real estate to become a landlord. He is not a handyman and is thinking of buying 2 condos/apartments to avoid high maintenance. He is not sure where he will be living in the near future for work, but is open to buying wherever the real estate market is hot. Getting time off from work to travel to where he buys should not be a problem for him. He might be able to eventually find work where one (or both) of the units are and move in. The two units do not need to be in the same town/city.

What would you do if you were in his shoes? Do you agree with his plan? Where would you buy? Do you recommend buying in a fast growing city, these cities' suburbs, or in a cheap isolated town/city that is projected to have a population boom?