Going out of state to buy

[Abdul Azeez]

folks - I am unable to find profitable opportunities after factoring in all costs including property management and taxes in NJ in desirable areas. Do you have recommendations on where I could do out of state investing to meet my return objectives of already a 10 % COC and $150 to $200 a door? I have literally run hundreds of APOD calculations in my home state and getting incredibly frustrated. To relate a recent history, I won a house on hubzu.com but they need me to close in 35 days. When I went into the property I found several things needed to be fixed including the copper pipes for plumbing that have been vandalized. So I cannot get a conventional loan without water being turned on. So my only option is a homestyle renovation loan which per my lender would take about 60 days to close. Hubzu imposes a penalty of a flat fee of $300 and $100 per day for any day over 35. The contractor expects $24k in repair costs. So a deal once found attractive based on which I bid is turning out not to be so attractive. This is one of the reasons I am considering out of state investing. Since these will be out of state, I definitely would need to account for a property manager and still obtain positive cash flow. Kindly advise.

[Patsy Waldron]

From what I have seen, many out-of-state investors like the Midwest and the South. Ohio/Indiana/Kansas seem to be top in the Midwest, and Florida and Tennessee seem to lead the pack in the South. You need to figure out what you are comfortable with in terms of price point (Midwest is more affordable than the South, esp. FL), distance from your investment (many people seem to want to be within a day's drive from their investment property), and finding a good property manager. There is a wealth of information about the dos and don'ts of out-of-state investing and literally hundreds of threads on BP about it- people discussing best locations, sharing successes and horror stories, giving recommendations, etc.