Opinions On Where to Invest

[David Smith]

Hi Everyone, 

I have been a member on bigger pockets for a while, but this is my first post.  First a little about me.  I currently live in the Orlando, FL area.  My real job is commercial construction project manager, with significant residential construction experience via my own homes, served as GC on construction of my family's first home in Atlanta, would not advise while trying to maintain a full-time job and other home renovations and additions since then.    

My only experience with rentals was a previous personal home which we could not sell and ended up leasing for 2 years through property management company.   In the past 2 years, I have rehabbed and flipped two homes in Orlando.  The second home I actually purchased for a rental, it is a nice little home in a quiet blue collar neighborhood which required minimal work.  Long story short I completed the renovation and was starting to talk to property management companies, when the home across the street, which was also being renovated at the same time, went on the market.  The asking price was significantly higher than I would have guessed and it sold quickly.  Valuing mine against this comp,  I realized the rents in the neighborhood do not justify the current value.   So I called my agent and said we are selling.

So now I am back as square one,  I want to invest the proceeds from the sale of the in a couple of buy and hold rentals, this will be an all cash purchase.  My problem is that I am no longer confident in Central Florida market, I see way to many apartment complexes going up and current home prices seem out of line with rent.  My feeling is that when the eventual market downturn comes, many of the the people who are pouring into the state from Ohio, Indiana, etc. will be forced to move back wherever they came from, as they always do, as the Central Florida economy is built on disposable income.   Consequently, I believe, rents will suffer as all of these apartment complexes offer deals to fill space.  With all that said, my question is, does anyone have an opinion on good blue collar areas\neighborhoods in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia,  Virginia, to buy approximately 2 homes in the $70,000 range which return a good rental income?   My plan is to purchase and turn them over to a Prop Mgmt co.  Thanks for any ideas.

[Christopher Bunge]

Mr. Smith,

I can tell you that Columbia, South Carolina is a solid market for homes in that price range and honestly, a bit less. Plenty of inventory in the 45k-to-75k range depending on the amount of rehab you are willing to take on.  If you are doing thing long-distance I would assume you want to avoid more than cosmetics.

Depending on the neighborhood you should expect rents for these types of houses to be from 750 to 1100 here. Columbia is the capitol city, there are several universities here including USC and we have a stable economy. 
If you look at Zillow or Trulia I think you'll get a feel for what 70k buys here. If you'd like specific examples or details about a particular home feel free to PM me and I can shoot you some addresses. I spent all day Friday and Saturday 'kicking tires' of houses and most were under 100k.
Best of luck in your search!
Chris Bunge