Looking to invest while looking for our own home

[Chase Nye]

Hello,

I am hoping to get some general advice as well as some Salt Lake City insight. My wife and I are moving to SLC this summer and hoping to find a place for ourselves as well as a buy-and-hold property. We will be in SLC for a minimum of three years and like the idea of converting our own place into a rental. We also have no problem doing some rehab, and hope to nudge our liability (our own place) as close to an investment as possible

My question is this: we have studied a bit about finding deals for rental properties that will cash flow, but should we apply those same strategies to our own home? Obviously, we will be considering different criteria when looking at neighborhoods. (schools, interests, hotspots, etc.) Now that we have narrowed our search to an area, should we be speaking with wholesalers, going to auctions, and working with a rock star agent to find these deals? Or should we stick to the path that non-investors take?

For some reason, my hunch is that those methods will only work when we are considering a home/neighborhood based on cash flow, and looking for money-maker prices. Do they work when we are focused on our own place? Or do our different standards render those methods less effective?

Hoping that someone can help us divide these two worlds that we are trying to navigate.

Thanks!

[Jordan Atkin]

@Chase Nye I'll start by agreeing with @Jeff Brower. I think using an owner occupied FHA loan to buy a multi unit is the single best investment you can make. The cream of the crop are side by side units with garages (my opinion)

Without knowing the details about your needs, expectations and pricing its hard to say what areas you would consider "good." I think it is very doable to find a nice property in a nice area that will cashflow once you move on. Personally, the majority of my rental portfolio is in east side SLC even though people have told me since 2013 (when I moved here) that the prices are too high and the returns are crap. 

Addressing your original question about methods of locating property: I think it boils down to time and how much time and effort you want to spend locating the investment. If you don't have the time to burn around locating opportunities then I would suggest working with an investor minded agent that can bridge the gap between the retail and investment markets. 

I know several and would be happy to offer referrals. 

Jordan