Advice on investing outside of my State.

[Leon Chappell]

I would love to hear from someone who invest outside of that state they live in. I want to know what new things do you have to consider when investing out of state. I am more focused in on Flips right now but I would like to hear from investors in Flips and Rentals

[Jessica Zolotorofe]

Hi @Leon Chappell! There is so much to consider. From the initial purchase phase, you want to make sure you visit the site and have a good due diligence team. You would want a lawyer to review title to make sure there are no issues there, you would want a good inspector to make sure there are no structural or mechanical/electrical issues, the typical stuff for a residential purchase, but maybe go the extra mile since you are unfamiliar with the area and not there for an extended period of time to keep an eye on it yourself. I would also check the real estate trends in the area to make sure you are buying in a neighborhood that has upside. It's hard to know everything about a place you don't live or have familiarity with, so of course you always want to be the worst house on the best street, especially for a flip. Make sure that you check into rent laws if you do decide to go that route. Some municipalities only allow a certain number of units or a certain number of renters within a unit, so that could be a consideration that factors into your decision to buy or your purchase price offer. If it is a 4 bedroom and you want to rent and all of the rooms are equal size (no real master), but the city only allows rental to 3 unrelated people, you may want to factor that into your potential income analysis, so local law is important in that regard. With flips, check online forums to see how difficult the permit process is. Some places it takes forever while you carry the property and you'll have to budget for the delay. Then once you are ready to close, different states have different closing costs which can be significant. Check into costs of title, transfer taxes, whether there is a mortgage tax. And finally, when you own the property, you'll want a GC you can trust to oversee any construction and ask for pictures and recap of work completed at least weekly so you know things are progressing without having to drive or fly out if it is far. And if you do rent, a property manager or super that is local is always helpful, even if you can hire someone on an "as needed" basis to take the late night "my heat isn't working" calls, that alleviates a huge amount of pressure from an out of state landlord.  There is a lot more we can discuss if you'd like to message me! Good luck!