Investor · Colorado Springs CO · Member since 2014 · 535 posts · 253 votes
I have heard quite a few reasons for living in various areas. Weather, family, politics, job transfer, college, etc. However, I don't recall ever hearing someone say they moved to a particular area because it was landlord-friendly, or because the house flipping opportunities were awesome.
So what I'm wondering is, what is your reason for living where you live? And the follow up questions: Does your reason pertain to real estate investing at all? Did real estate investing have any impact on your reason to stay in, or move to, a particular place?
Hanford, CA · Member since 2013 · 5k+ posts · 1k+ votes
11y
My husband is active duty military so we lived where he is ordered to ;)
That being said, this has turned out to be an amazing blessing! We have seen areas I would "never" had chosen for myself! We invest where it makes sense. While i would never have chosen this life, I feel bled because we would have missed out on some amazing opportunities.
The thing I have learned is that if you look at every situation with open eyes, you can turn anything into a great oppoirtuntiy!
Real Estate Broker · Gibsonia, PA · Member since 2013 · 828 posts · 260 votes
11y
for us, it was my husband school job. Also was active duty briefly to pay back education loan.
As we move it was also blessing to buy right ;) and gained my REI experience.
Currently, I hope we are in our permanent move for now. Primarily for job, but we also chosed a place where i can evovle as an investor. Boston the buy in too expense. NC military town was to dead....and if military budget is gone... Town dies.. Like today.
Pittsburgh when I moved wasn't as hot as it is today ;) but i like that it has all kinds of opportunities for commercial and residential.
Rental Property Investor · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2013 · 6k+ posts · 4k+ votes
11y
My aunt lived in this area of Milwaukee for a long time. Then my mother moved to that area to be closer to her, and when I was looking for a house, I bought a house on the same street name, 10 blocks away, from my mother. I could walk over to see her during the summer time and walk back after she fed me way too much food for dinner. It really worked out because my mom was partially disabled and needed help grocery shopping and doing other things.
Greensboro, NC · Member since 2014 · 212 posts · 143 votes
11y
I grew up in NC and have stayed here except for a 4 year stint in Richmond. I guess I am here because I grew up here, went to college and grad school, found a job and never really left. I stay in NC for all of the reasons that you mentioned in your post: the weather is nice (though it snowed yesterday), cost of living is low, property taxes are low, employment is strong, education is strong, the beaches and mountains are both within a few hours drive (but no good snow skiing).
Real estate specific, the area where I live has buy and hold potential when you buy right. Appreciation is hit or miss...head to Charlotte or Raleigh and look at their trendier neighborhoods if appreciation and/or flipping is your game.
Sure there are better areas for cash flow (on paper), but if I have to shovel snow 5 months out of the year or have my rights infringed upon (we won't go politics), then I'll pass and just stay here in the south.
Investor · Ottawa, IL · Member since 2015 · 22 posts · 34 votes
11y
In 2009, I owned a 3 unit building and was thinking of moving to a warmer climate. I decided I'd either sell and move or get serious about REI. It's 6 degrees outside right now, but I have 19 units, mostly duplexes. My plan is to get to 30, pay them off, hand them over to a PM, then spend my winters traveling the south!
Greensboro, NC · Member since 2014 · 212 posts · 143 votes
11y
@Keith N. Welcome to bp. Dont just spend your winters in the south...come on down here full time. The water is warm. We had our first snow yesterday and it is all but melted away. If i really want to see snow i can drive 3 hours for it, but no one says i have to live with it every day.
Investor · Boise, ID · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 736 votes
11y
100% by choice. Boise, Idaho is excellent for an incredible outdoor oriented or even urban lifestyle that is affordable. It is an easy place to live and abounding in natural beauty. I just got back from a hike in our foothills at sunset this evening (which are in walking distance) - so I am on a natural high about our great little city. :)
Real Estate Agent · Hayden, ID · Member since 2010 · 89 posts · 31 votes
11y
God decorated this place in my favorite colors- blue and greeen. Few bugs, everything within a 6 mile bike ride, no tornados, hurricanes, or earthquakes. Have you seen this place?- it is gorgeous. I went to college here and back with a job transfer. Right now, my husband's job keeps me here. I also love Boise (10 degrees warmer year round) where I grew up- so I have invested in both areas.
Real Estate Agent · Milton, VT · Member since 2015 · 81 posts · 36 votes
11y
I live in Chittenden County in Vermont. This is probably the hardest state to be an investor in. We have licensed lending laws, Wholesaling is illegal without a real estate license (technically it probably is legal but no one wants to foot the $1000s it would take to fight it.) we are very tenant biased and i won't even mention how harsh the taxes are. Financing is very difficult here. Just pull up some hard money lenders you will find that many lend in all states except Vermont. We are probably the most business unfriendly state in the union. In short no I don't stay here because it has good investment potential but in spite of that I have knowledge and connections that can only come from living here. I firmly believe that anyone can make money in any market it is just a matter of finding the right way of doing it. There is no better way of finding that right way than living in the community.
Civil Engineer · Firestone, CO · Member since 2013 · 85 posts · 21 votes
11y
Firestone, Colorado! Moved to the area after graduating from the University of Wyoming 15 years ago. Love the Colorado weather and the small town feel of the Tri-Town area with Denver attractions only 35 minutes away! Just wish there was a beach nearby.....
Real Estate Agent · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2013 · 451 posts · 369 votes
11y
@Anthony Micklus I experienced VT craziness when I worked in the market research industry, we would do work all across the world and in every state ... except VT because of their legal system.
For me, Washington Crossing, PA is because I was born there, but even if I don't live there (probably the case in the near future) it would be the first area I would invest. Some of the top public schools in the state, median household income over $100K, little to no poverty, commutable to both Philadelphia & NYC. The property taxes are relatively reasonable as a percentage of value because the median home price is around $600-700K.
Also, it one of the most historic towns in the country with plenty of homes from the 18th century still around and it is less than an hour drive to beach.
Investor · Roswell, GA · Member since 2014 · 234 posts · 97 votes
11y
it's really cool how everyone has something that keeps them outside of REI. It's all about the value you get out of any decision or investment that you make.
For me, Atlanta feels like a home. Maybe we will venture out further one day, but for now, our entire life is here. It just happens to be one of the top 10 RE markets in the country right now so that provides us with an even bigger incentive to stay.
Rego Park, NY · Member since 2015 · 17 posts · 2 votes
11y
Antonio Marte Hello Antonio, I'm Ricardo. Hope you're having a great week. I live in Rego Park, too. We should exchange contact information to grow our businesses.
Investor · Thermopolis, WY · Member since 2012 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
11y
I live close to the center of Wyoming. I was born in Wyoming but halfway across the state from where I live now. I am a 4th generation born in Wyoming and have 2 more generations below me born here. The weather is not kind most of the year, but there are areas that are breath taking in their wild lonely beauty. It's not so crowded up here, I probably know over half of the folks in my town. I had to walk a few blocks awhile back when I had a starter go out of my truck. Luckily my daughter's house was nearby. I had 5 or 6 folks stop and offer me a ride and two offered to help me work on it. How do you leave a town like that? The hunting is nice, even though I am doing a lot less. We moved here after law school because it looked like a nice place to raise kids, we were right. its a long drive to decent shopping but the internet is helping that out now. Investing is hard here, there is probably not 30 houses for sale in the whole town at the moment. I have managed to buy a dozen houses locally and a small apartment complex, and am in a very small commercial property. A town like Casper would hold many more opportunities but would not seem like home. I lived in a lot of towns in Wyoming and a few in Colorado growing up. I like most of the politics in my state but we have our nut jobs as well, most but not all are imported. I would say the folks are nicer here but I have found nice people everywhere I have ever traveled. Maybe they are just friendly faster than other areas I have been to. I like going to new places, maybe @Account Closed will invite to visit him, but enjoy getting home. We have crime but few violent crimes from strangers. I have never heard of a mugging in town. More than one would be burglar has been chased down and caught by the neighbor, and most burglaries are kids stealing change out of cars. Most houses have guns and folks who can shoot them.
Investor · Titusville, PA · Member since 2015 · 298 posts · 150 votes
11y
I live in Titusville, PA. I can tell you one thing; it's not for the weather. It was -17 a couple days ago (colder than the north pole was). We moved here so that our children would grow up around family (grandma/grandpa/aunts/uncles). The RE market here is slightly depressed but it has been that way since 1930 or so I would think. The nice thing about that is that, when RE tanked in so many places covered by media, ours stayed steady. The volatility isn't a problem here, but it also means that appreciation should not be most people's strategy of choice in this area (unless you have a higher risk tolerance) because you may have a little difficulty selling at your price point. The main cause of this in my opinion is that the economy is pretty slow. The local governments seem to be pretty averse to anything manufacturing or "polluting".
Benefits to the market are that you can get into properties for very little money in a pretty decent neighborhood. Most people are very neighborly and friendly. You can meet the 2% rule like other places so, all things being relative, it just means you buy more properties for the same effect as fewer in more bustling areas.
Real Estate Investor · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2014 · 785 posts · 190 votes
11y
We moved here for jobs and the weather. As it turns out, I like the real estate investing environment. Cheap distressed houses, good blue collar buyers for owner finance houses, they pay their bills and work hard. Awesome place to do REI.
I have heard quite a few reasons for living in various areas. Weather, family, politics, job transfer, college, etc. However, I don't recall ever hearing someone say they moved to a particular area because it was landlord-friendly, or because the house flipping opportunities were awesome.
So what I'm wondering is, what is your reason for living where you live? And the follow up questions: Does your reason pertain to real estate investing at all? Did real estate investing have any impact on your reason to stay in, or move to, a particular place?
We actually did move temporarily to Raleigh as we'd researched and chosen that place to invest when our hometown became too expensive to make money with future buy and hold. We were in transition, so we thought it would be a good move, still close to family, 2-3 hours, and close to our favorite lake, with great opportunities for investment at the time. A much better job offer presented itself across the country a few months later, so while we still invested in Raleigh, we've basically moved many times over the last several years with my husband's new job. We still plan on keeping our main investment focused on the Raleigh area and will move closer and self-manage when we retire. So we did actually move for real estate purposes, but it didn't last very long as other issues took priority.
#1- an hour from me. #2- 45 minutes from me. #8- 20 minutes from me
http://www.weather.com/weather/today/l/USFL0084:1:US - compare that to where you live. Unless you are Bob Bowling in Hawaii this is likely better than where you are currently.