Oklahoma City Investors

[Justin Young]

I have noticed reasonably priced homes for sale in the OKC area but I have no clue the layout of the neighborhoods. Could someone give me an idea as to where would be the best areas to make a purchase in the OKC area?

[Theresa Nicoletto]

Go visit neighborhoods and drive through. Google doesn't do some of the areas justice. One street can be wonderful, the next is a hot mess. (Please trust me on this... the first house I bought at a tax sale looked great on google.... but was taken down by the city the week prior.... anyone want a vacant lot in NE OKC? LOL... Lesson learned! Though, now I have a whole method of buying at tax sales that has kicked my investing in high gear... so it's okay to make mistakes... as long as you learn from them and don't rinse, repeat.  But I digress...)

As Kevin Laughlin said, figure out what your goal is - flipping, wholesaling or buy and hold. Once you figure that out (read The Millionaire Real Estate Investor by Gary Keller to help hone in on your strategy and find some you may not have considered...), figure out your niche - high end, low end or somewhere in the middle and start doing your research. 

Attend the local REIAs and meetups... talk to as many people as you can and ask them in person where they buy. Then ask why. Listen. Take notes. You'll notice some similarities but you'll also notice that some do Section 8 so go to lower end areas, some only want to units in great school districts, others want working class.... the most important thing is to find out why they buy where they buy...  there are challenges and opportunities in each area.. you need to see what your preference is... (basically what you want to deal with!) 

Also, speak to property managers and real estate agents. (Don't wear these people out in the beginning... you want to educate yourself first...and then approach... time is money!)

Go on Zillow, realtor.com Look at 100 houses. use the BP calculators and see if it's a deal. 

Remember, you make your $ on the buy... you need to have enough of a margin in there to hang if/when the market dips. You don't want to pay retail, you want to get it at a discount... (I'm a 70% ARV and below girl, myself.) Look at all your metrics. In order to be successful in this business, you NEED to live and die by your numbers. Does it pass the 1% rule? 50% rule? If you don't know what those are.... search the forums.

Have fun and stay calm. It's only money and you can make more of it! ;-)