First Rental Property in Buffalo Area

[Nathan Kawalerski]

Hello, my wife and I are looking into investing in the Buffalo market. We have 30k set aside for a down payment and are ideally looking for a turnkey rental. What is best advice you have ? 

[James Wise]

Quote from @Nathan Kawalerski:

Hello, my wife and I are looking into investing in the Buffalo market. We have 30k set aside for a down payment and are ideally looking for a turnkey rental. What is best advice you have ? 

I like to hand out the punch list below to new turnkey investors. Following the items below should go a long way to help you reduce risks and increase profit.

• Don't buy in the roughest neighborhood in the urban core. Pick a solid B-Class suburban area. Perhaps a nice 1950's built bungalow.
• Always hire a 3rd party property inspector to give you an unbiased feel for the home. The reports are 40-90 pages long and go through the entire house in great detail.
• Get an appraisal. If your using financing the bank requires this. This is good. The bank isn't going to let you blow their money. They have more skin in the game then you do.
• Make sure you get clear title. If using a lender this is a non issue. They will make you do this. It's those maniacs that buy homes cash via quit claim deed off of craigslist that really get screwed.
• Make sure your property manager is a licensed real estate brokerage.
• Google Clayton Morris and/or Morris Invest for a cautionary tale of what not to do when buying turnkey real estate
• Understand you can not eliminate all risk, only mitigate it. If you are risk averse, real estate, (especially out of state) is not for you.