Saving approximately 9k in cash per month. Looking for guidance to buy out of state

[Tenzin Kalden]

Hello, I have never owned a home before and am currently renting per month for approximately $1600 in Bay Area, California.

I recently thought about investing out of state in the LCOLA/ MCOLA area. I looked at Minneapolis, Portland, and Dallas. For Minneapolis, it looks like for a $200k house, the down payment is about $50k or so and the mortgage comes out to about $1300 a month. I feel like I could possibly buy property if the prices are this cheap. However, I have no way of knowing what the current rent is for the area compared to mortgages. Also, I plan to stay in California so i plan to rent out property purchased out of state. 

What should I do? Get a realtor and a property management team? Also, can I use out-of-state property for tax deductions if there rental?

What else should i be thinking about?

[Scott E.]

I'm in a similar situation. I've been doing deals in the Scottsdale area for ~12 years now but it has become so expensive and cap rates have become so compressed that I'm looking at other markets for future investments.

My current routine is that I spent 30 minutes every day deeply studying another market. I'm pulling up Zillow and looking at homes for sale. I'm pulling up Loopnet and looking at multifamily, retail, office, and medical deals for sale. I'm reading offering memorandums to learn about different sub markets within these markets. I'm pulling up neighborhood scout and looking at crime rates. I'm looking at data like job growth and migration.

I'm going to continue this routine until the end of the year before I even consider doing a deal out of state (partially out of necessity as I have a few huge development deals out here that I'm finishing up).

Once I hone in on a few pockets that look promising, I'll be flying out there to drive the area and get to know the region in real life. And I'll also be building a small team of agents, contractors, property management, maintenance teams, etc.

Perhaps you follow a similar routine. Don't just blindly pick another market because it's cheap.