NEWBIE QUESTION: Out of State MFR? Which Market? How to Manage?

[Kevin Chan]

Hi BP,

This is my first post and I'm looking forward to building a connection to the BP community. I'm new investing in MFR and RE in general. I live in the greater Seattle area and work full time in the software industry in sales.

I'm very much committed to building and growing a RE business but need to make it work by hiring property managers given I wouldn't be able to be hands on day to day. After some research, I've pretty much concluded that MFRs are the way to go to generate a scalable income stream. I do have some my own capital to invest. I need to figure out how much of my own capital I should use vs others. (but that's a separate question...).

The main question I have is: In order to figure out the right market and find the right deal, can/should I look out of state/area for properties with better cap rates or should I focus on my local area? By looking at other cities, what's the approach I should take and what systems and elements should be incorporated into my business plan?

The assumption I'm making here is that the Greater Seattle Area is relatively expensive and there might be more profitable options with better cap rates and lower acquisition cost and lower vacancy rates in other cities. (I read about Austin, Atlanta, etc).

Reading a post, @Ben Leybovich invests within 50 miles of where he lives but anything beyond requires more resources and complexity to manage.

Thanks you all in advance. I'm looking forward to becoming active in this community.

Kevin