Life just changed and now I am 100% remote - where to live??

Question

So I recently just changed jobs from a door to door salesman to a 100% remote sales role

Numbers for the sake of numbers (base 80k, commission 50-80k..ote is 70) so lets say a nice conservative guess of 120k. Im told I can at the very least use my base for a loan. initially I would also have a RE license and I am a licensed MLO also which might be helpful

Have around 50k saved up and own one home in South Florida (owe 150k on a 320-340k home) - have roommates that offset that but couldn't use that as income on an approval. Will either rent that out and use the income to offset a loan. I would consider buying a multi in florida with an fha and 3.5% down but the returns are horrific for the home prices and if I did I would just rent a room out of state while being feet on the ground in another state

Question is - I have 2 years of this job and can be based mostly anywhere east coast (within an hour time zone) where can I base myself to really maximise my investment growth with rentals. South Florida is very difficult to find good cash flowing properties (more an appreciation market) and though im told Jacksonville is an option if I am going to temp relocate I see no difference between moving 5 hours and moving 13 hours away. Fl is still where I will keep my residency initially

Thanks for all the tips

Cheers

Colleen F. · Answer

@Dorian Weber  do you need to travel for work?  If so your best bet is to look into locations with major airports  within an hour to an 1.5 hours. Another thing you need to consider is if state income tax is a factor, if you move out of FL you will have state income tax on both your wages and investment income. You really can't go FHA and not declare the state the property is in your state of residency.   That said it is a variable state income tax hit which could be offset if you have lower property taxes. Your southern states are probably better all around, once you get up to new england alot of places have higher point of market entry,markets are currently hot and they are more tenant friendly. I would not advice NY or NJ metropolitan areas. RI is a beautiful place to live but the taxes are higher then FL.  NH could be an option but I don't know that market.

Scott Mac · Answer

Hi Dorian,

I was going to say Gaborone in Botswana Africa, but then you want to stay in Florida.

The cost of living there is about half of that in the USA, effectively doubling your stay at home USA income.

French president Sarkozy wants Botswana to be excluded from the international business community because it's a tax haven that does not have a suitable legal framework to exchange of tax information with other countries.

It's not a just a jungle full of lions. They have major fast food places there like KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, etc...

Colleen F. · Answer

@Dorian Weber .... " if I end up having to buy more than 90min/2 hours away from me I would most likely need a property management company anyway so at that point I dont see as much difference if it is in Tampa or Memphis"  here is the difference, state taxes and money down.

Living in property:

• In FL 3.5% down, no state tax, no PM cost. 
• In TN, 3.5 % down, state tax on real estate income and w-2 income,  no PM cost.

Not Living in property

• IN FL 20% down, no state tax,  PM cost
• In TN 20% down, state tax on real estate income only, PM cost

So it boils down to upfront money and if you move out of state a 1% state tax like TN is not a big hit but a 5% state  tax would be more of a factor. Also if you  BRRR  in FL you could leverage that for future properties anywhere.

That said if you buy $50,000 houses 20% is a smaller chunk of change.

Dorian Weber · Answer

Realistically I would need to do that after I utilised any FHA program as I would want to keep that for a year and then start putting down 20%. As an agent initially the FHA loan at 3.5%...the commission on that should help with that downpayment as will my NMLS number. So that property will be very affordable out of pocket and wont take too much out of my savings initially. The 20% units on the other hand, will

For me, if I end up having to buy more than 90min/2 hours away from me I would most likely need a property management company anyway so at that point I dont see as much difference if it is in Tampa or Memphis. But im open to all opinions. the next 2-3 years is going to be the big movement for me and I need to maximise that time with the opportunity

Colleen F. · Answer

@Dorian Weber Honestly there are probably places in north florida you can afford if that is what you want to do and look hard enough.  It is not an expensive state overall.   There are also alot of people that will say go to Ohio and Indiana so you can invest however there advantages to keeping your investments local. If you go out of state you would need to do conventional 20% down so there is more money upfront but depends on the price point you are looking at if that is a signficant down payment in $$. Also make sure when you buy out of your area businesses are not leaving the area you buy in.

Dorian Weber · Answer

I will only be in the new state for 3 -4  periods of between 4-6 weeks year 1 (Orr the max I can be without loosing my FL residency) with the aim of just using my spare time to meet agents, contractors, HVAC people etc etc so that I have boots on the ground and start with a property or two but with a low enough price point of entry that I can do that. South Florida is just to expensive

Was only planning on using an FHA  in florida if I was able to find a MFH local I could buy but even at the top end of $775k allowance I am priced out unless I want to live in very undesirable areas, which I dont want to do as there will be tenant issues plus appreciation in those areas isnt very good.

Dorian Weber · Answer

So for me - the next 2-3 years is simply portfolio building after that I will worry about where I want to live / quality of life. With my regular 9-5 work from home gig and additional RE work its not like I will have much time to really go crazy  in the local community.

Im just wanting to building a portfolio and South Florida is just not the place to do it

Taylor L. · Answer

I think the most important thing to consider is what kind of quality of life you're looking for. EST and Central time zones leave you with a huge swath of the country, with a very wide variety of cultures and climates.

+1 for Richmond VA! Great place to live. Competitive housing market though (like basically anywhere these days). At $120k you'll be very comfortable here.

Life just changed and now I am 100% remote - where to live??

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