So many options! Out of state buying? (long)

[Jonathan H.]

Hello everyone,

I have a couple of questions and many concerns! :D

My wife and I are soon to be first time RE investors.
One thing we have to work around, is that we travel non-stop for work.

In every city we go to (including canadian cities), we always take a look at the prices of multi-family units (2 to 4 units), and also take a look at average rent rates.

In most (if not all) of the places Ive been to, I rarely see many (if any) properties that show an annual 10% return on the total cost of the property. I do search a fair bit as well.

From the areas Ive visited for work, the best Im seeing are (approx) $48-50K yearly rents for $380-400K fourplexes.

What confuses me, is that on this forum, I see some write about duplexes at 50-70K bringing in $9,600-12,00 yearly. Or one case where someone wanted to negotiate a 4plex for approx $120-130K (listed at 170K) that brought in $38,000 yearly.

This is making me re-think everything.

I initially thought that bringing in 10% was a good place to start, but seeing people listing 15-20% returns just really confuses me.

Are these gold mines, the one in a hundred type of properties? Or have I just not been in the right cities/states?

Im mostly in the NW (washington, oregon, hawai'i, Idaho and Alaska) but have also worked a lot in the NE (Boston and surroundings, RI, and around L.I. NY)