Expanding my Horizons

[Mike McKinzie]

Sorry I've been absent for a while. Between getting offended on the "election" thread and busy doing deals, I just haven't had time to post. For those that know me, I have always had a "weird" goal in my real estate investing. I have always wanted to own a rental home in every state. I have heard many investors say they wished that all of their rentals were local but that would be like putting all of your 401K into Enron stock or Worldcom stock. Look at all the bankrupt real estate investors who invested in only Las Vegas or Florida or Southern California!

Yesterday, I closed on my first Tennessee house, in Memphis, with another Bigger Pockets member. That brings my total to seven different states now, California, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Virginia and Tennessee. I am currently in a strong cash position and would like to buy some more in other states.

My criteria is simple:
1. House must rent for 1% or MORE of the purchase price plus any repairs.
2. I prefer houses 10 years old or newer but am flexible. The TN house is 14 years old.
3. The location must be a place where you would feel safe having your mother or grandmother live, ALONE.
4. As I am a cash buyer, it must be at least 10% below comps.
5. I prefer tenant and Property Management in place. I will not pay above 8% for Property Management and currently pay 6% on most of my rentals.

I have purchased 3 houses so far in October, 2012, all rentals. They meet the above criteria, 2 were all cash and the third was a 65% LTV.

I started to post this over in the marketplace section of BP, but that area has little traffic.

But I also wanted a discussion about what marketplace you feel is the best for the coming 12-24 months. If you had $100,000 to spend today, what marketplace would you invest in? (that is the general price range I like) What are the pros and cons in your area?