Living in California wanting to buy in Toledo Ohio

[Delia Washington]

I found a property in Toledo Ohio that we might be interested in purchasing for our first investment. There will be renovation expenses so we will need to find a good but reasonable contractor. Do we secure our financing in CA or Ohio? Is there any advice or pitfalls to look out for when making a long distance purchase? This is scary but exciting at the same time.

[Stone Jin]

@Delia Washington Financing in today's world is mostly done online.  My broker in Phoenix got her license in Ohio for me and originates loans with no issues.  Since this is your first investment property, you should talk to a few local brokers.  They may even tell you if the deal is good or not as they probably see quite a few similar deals go across their desk.

My advice to you would be to fly out to Toledo and drive the neighborhoods.  If you are buying lower end homes, 1 street will make the difference between profit and loss.  Also investing out of state you need to up your typicial expenses as you are relying 100% on other people to work for you.