Invest local & expensive or long-distance and cheap?

[Elyse G.]

Hi, BP community! New investor here hoping to gain some insight into different strategies for my first deal.

I currently reside in Durham, NC (bought first home in 2020) and have been interested in buying my first rental property in the Durham area or more broadly the Triangle of NC. Although having my first property within 30 minutes would be ideal, home prices are expensive and the market is still very competitive in this area. I am reading Brandon's book Rental Property Investing and just finished the chapter on local vs. long-distance investing so I wanted to post the question here.

Here's my general hope for the first deal

-under $200k

-small multi-family

-open to a small amount of rehab needed to get it rent-ready

If I chose to invest long-distance, it would hopefully be within a 3-hr radius (Southern VA, other cities in NC, etc).

Any advice for first time investors in the Triangle of NC in the current market? I am also interested to hear arguments for long-distance (but still within driving distance) investing and if that has a high barrier to entry for first time investors.

Thanks!