Pittsburgh vs Raleigh - First Home as an investment property

[Vikas Deshpande]

Hello everyone, 

My name is Vikas and I recently joined and have learnt a lot from the forums I have visited, thank you so much. I was looking for some advice/opinions, I live in California and have realized buying a house here is not affordable for me, so was looking for other states to buy my first investment property. I want to move to east coast in around 3 years and considering Raleigh (RTP area - Cary, Morrisville, Apex), North Carolina as an option as I have studied there and like it, and Pittsburgh, PA. 

I want to buy a property from an investment perspective, I was wondering which out of these two cities would be preferable in terms of ease of renting (rent per month and the time it takes to rent it out). I am open to learn about other cities as well. What I am looking for from this investment property is that the rent covers mortgage and may be I have a positive cash flow. 

Feel free to ask any questions, this is my first post here and I apologize in case of any mistakes. 

Thank you and I look forward to hearing more about your opinions.

Regards,

Vikas

[Rohan D.]

Hi Vikas, I do not know about either of the cities. But stick to the basics when it comes to trying to select your market. Population growth, job growth, income growth and a landlord friendly state (I think RTP wins here). Make sure you check with your realtor to share lease (rental) comps, that will give you a good idea about rental demand (cost and days on market). Afaik, rtp will not cashflow unless you increase your equity in the deal.

Lastly, cannot stress enough on having a good team on the ground, one you can trust.  The point here is, talk to PMs in both cities and get a feel of rents, management expenses, management styles etc. They will give you an idea of preferable neighborhoods, preferable house layouts for renters etc...

Since you are going to be a oos investor, just curious why restrict yourself to these 2 cities? It's understandable if its because of your familiarity to the city in the past. But you maybe giving up greater cashflow/growth potential by leaving the rest of many wonderful cities out.

hope I did not confuse you further :)