Cash flow rental area and property manager recommendations

[Wenqian Guo]

Hi I’m looking to buy 2 rental properties. Under 70k each. Midwest seems to be a popular market..but just Midwest in general is kind of vague..so I’m trying to come up with some practice areas to look to buy the properties.

What would be an practical cost/ cash flow annually ratio to decide if an area is worth investing. I’m thinking more than 7 or 8% at least, because currently it’s quite easily to get more than that amount investing in stock markets( but everything is overvalued and market correction will happen). So I’m ok with lower return on investment than buying stocks since it will be more stable in the long run. But I’m not quite sure what is the right ratio to seem for.

My goal is to have 2 rental properties out of state, and one one property in Bay Area to start with. I’m looking for them in parallel, but will purchase the one in Bay Area first because I quality for first time home buyer, and makes more sense using this opportunity for low down payment for the most expensive investment.

I’m looking for agents both in Bay Area and out of state. Please contact me if you are an agent with clients who house hack in Bay Area or purchased out of state properties. And get in touch if you know reliable property managers. Thank you so much.

Sorry for this long rant of a post. My main goal it’s to get an idea of what’s a good income/cost ratio, and find agents for Bay Area (primary residence) and out of state rental properties..