Seeking new opportunities

[Mike Castellow]

I am still in the process of evaluating locations to move to further my real estate investing career. I have tentatively narrowed down locations and am currently leaning towards the Fayetteville / Northwest Arkansas area or towards Asheville, NC or a similar town in North Carolina.

The following criteria is what I have been using to narrow my choices:

1. The location must have a lake nearby for fishing.

2. A fairly temperate climate where I can fish and work year-round. Temperate for me, is not Gulf Coast hot and no ice fishing in the winter.

3. A growing population so that I can continue to implement a BRRRR strategy without concern for long term depreciation, or even stagnant appreciation.

4. Property must be able to cash flow after everything is accounted for.

5. Highly prefer an area that has live music and local farm fresh foods. I feel like not only am I looking for these things but most young people are also looking for these items which could potentially impact future growth.

6. Must also have good health care in a reasonable vicinity for a family member that will be moving to the area with us.

I will be traveling through Northwest Arkansas, Eastern Tennessee, and throughout North Carolina around the end of August to early September and would love to find out about any real estate meet ups that are scheduled during that time period. Finding an active investment community would be beneficial during my evaluation period, because I could use every ounce of local knowledge that I can get. I will also be looking for a new real estate team in whichever area that I choose to invest so if there are any real estate agents or hard money lenders that I could start to build a relationship with now, that could possibly sway my decision. If you know a few good fishing spots in addition to some of the best and worst areas to invest, that sounds even better.

The types of investment properties that I will be looking for are those that are run down with the type of issues that most sane investors avoid, and if it is in one of those time consuming work stopping historical districts, even better. I feel that those are the types of neighborhoods that seem to be more likely to still be in great shape in the future. I want to renovate poorly cared for homes in great neighborhoods in top-rated school districts, because I want to rent to people who are willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that their kid(s) grow up with the advantages and benefits that they never had. I don’t want low rent properties in the roughest neighborhood in town or in poor performing school districts for that very same reason.

[Michael Tierney]

Hi @Mike Castellow. I moved to Asheville 3 years ago from Texas. Joined the local REIA when I first got here and that was a huge help in getting up to speed. Saw a lot of interesting properties at first, but things cleaned up quickly. Wish I would have bought a lot more back then. There are still a good number of deals getting done, but a lot of competition. The local REIA had about 30 people attending the main meetings when I first arrived - now it is usually 100+ attending.

The easy rehabs have been pretty well cleaned up.  Now we need to go out and find deals.  Having rehab skills is really helpful as Good Contractors are pretty busy.  Asheville is an amazing place and I think you are right, it will just grow in popularity as people have more options to work from places they like. Four mild seasons, lots of outdoor activities, good restaurants, plentiful drinking holes, and vibrant downtown and W. AVL districts.  Afraid it is not much of a secret anymore.