$800k Multifamily - Top cashflow? Best area?

[James Piercy]

Hello Everyone,

I am working with my parents to 1031 a property that should go for around 800k with an 300k outstanding loan.  This will leave me with around 500k in equity on a new 800k+ investment.  

Is it realistic to find a property that grosses 8k a month?  I've been watching Reno, NV (Tesla & Google), Austin, TX, Sacramento, CA and none of these seem like realistic markets to have 1% returns.

My question is, on a multifamily (ideally fourplex) what are the best markets to look into for a cashflow property.  I would like an 800k multifamily to cash flow at least 4k, after ALL expenses.  Is this realistic?  If so, where do I need to take my search?  To have a successful 1031, it seems that you need to have a property that is sitting on the market or an area that isn't as hot, to do within 45 days.  Any suggestions would be great.  

My last purchase was a duplex in Austin for $435k with 110k down that only cashflows $515/month after mortgage and property management expenses but nothing else. I do not want to make another mistake like my first property.  Thank you!

[Andrew Johnson]

@James Piercy Just my initial thoughts:

1.) If you go for 4-plex you get a standard 30 year loan, etc. but if you go 5+ units you get the fun of a 20 or 25 year amortization period.  It's not the end of the world but you do end up with a higher mortgage payment than if you shove deal points into a standard calculator.  And you might pay a little bit more in terms of an interest rate.  But you'll stand a better chance of hitting your 1% desire with $50K/unit apartments than $200K/unit apartments (i.e. a quad for $800K).

2.) Taking Reno, NV out of it you're picking a couple of the "hottest" markets since the crash.  If you're looking for 1% deals you probably have to take any "Top 10" or "Top 25" list of markets that have appreciated the most in the last 5-10 years off of your list.  You'll see the same markets in there:  Seattle, Nashville, Bay Area, Sacramento, Austin, etc.  I'll over-generalize but the appreciation rate in those markets is going to increase faster than the rents.