Long-Term Wealth Accumulation in small towns: Please speak up!!!

[Rafael Norat]

I’m sure there are seasoned Buy & Hold investors here on BP who have accumulated their wealth in small towns, C- neighborhoods, low-cost multis and SFRs, who completely disregarded appreciation as a main focus and directed their attention to other factors such as:

• Cash Flow
• Equity increase through mortgage paydown by tenant
• Depreciation
• Tax Deductions

If so, please SPEAK UP!

I myself have accumulated a couple handful of units in one of these “$20k purchase neighborhoods” that seems to be increasingly frowned upon here as poor, long-term investments.

It seems as if these areas get a bad rap for the same reasons any other investment opportunities do as well: false advertisement.

As with any investment, there are pitfalls to avoid through education and good team building. Sure my tenants my create some issues and my older building may have some leaks at times, but through good planning and a great team I mitigate this well and create a great long-term investments.

I know many seasoned investors who have successfully invested in these types of areas with long-term, 15-20 year plus success. I myself had limited funds to get started and found such a neighborhood to invest in when other markets were out of my price range.

If you have long-term experiences that justifies such areas for wealth-building, please share your thoughts so newer investors can hear about your success as well. There are plenty of horror stories to go around in any type of investment, including higher appreciation areas with less cash flow. But that shouldn’t stop you from investigating thoroughly and deciding which one works for you.

I firmly believe that practically ANY market has investment potential as long as YOU are properly educated to assess the opportunity.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Rafael