Multifamily out of state

[Steven Kennerley]

Hi All

I just moved to the USA last year and it took me this long to get my credit score up to a good level Even though we had no debt and a reasonable amount of cash we brought with us from the sale of our home in New Zealand. We we have a mortagage free home and I just went to the bank to get a line of credit on to use for REI.

Im interested in buying multifamily out of state. Im currently in Northern Washington State. Im taking as much info in as i can with books podcasts etc and some of the concerns I have I thought Id share.

I listened to the podcast yesterday about investing in multifamily which is the area that interests me the analysis part was really helpful. The problem I have is that I think I can analyze properties but I dont know the areas. Brandon said bad areas attract bad people which I completely agree with but I dont know which areas are bad. Another issue I struggle with is many of the properties dont show many pictures at least of the inside of these multi families. So to do the initial analysis is difficult because I dont know the initial condition and its hard to put information into the analysis that would give me accurate feedback. If anyone can point me in the right direction I would really appreciate it.

Steve.

[Patrick Britton]

@Steven Kennerley yes, you should definitely join Bellingham's REI group. It can be found easily on meetup.com.

I am also looking at buying one or more MFR in other states. Do what you want of course, but I am doing a top-down approach. i.e. start with the state, then county, then city, then neighborhood and finally property. Your budget and risk tolerance will play a big role as well.

Once you have a general area in mind, i'd reach out to realtors on Bigger Pockets operating in those areas.  Tell them what you are looking for, what you need, dont need, etc., and budget.  

Once these realtors start sending you properties fire back as many questions as you need.  Assuming you are dealing with an honest realtor, ask for their feedback.  They SHOULD know the area and be able to provide a lot of info not available in the public listings.  

After a few months of this, you should get a very good idea of what is good and what isn't.  

just my 2 cents.