Investing out-of-state in a college town - Iowa State

[Hailey Padgett]

Hello, 

Chicago is an expensive market; as a new investor in real estate I'm considering investing out-of-state. Particularly I am looking into investing in a rental in my old college town of Ames, IA (Go Cyclones!)

Does anyone have advice on investing out of state as a new investor?

More importantly, has anyone had any success in buying rentals in a college town or is this a terrible idea I need to walk away from?

Thank you for any and all insight. 

[Rick Mapes]

Hi Hailey, I live in Ankeny, and work in Ames - and have quite a few coworkers who invest in the Ames area and seem to really like the market. My sense is that Ames is 10-25% more expensive to get into for comparable houses/neighborhoods in the Des Moines area, but the university makes demand really high in Ames.

I don't have much experience investing out of state, so that's the extent of my ability to weigh in, best of luck!