Buying to Rent in Indiana - worth it?

[Elizabeth Ross]

Hi! I am new to home buying. I've always worked for myself and didn't have a ton of support so I was not able to prove my income for quite some time due to doing my taxes wrong or not understanding how things work. Now I'm getting ready to start investing in property and I host some rental arbitrage properties on Airbnb. Someone with property in South Bend asked me to help with theirs and I noticed there's a ton of property under $100k there. That's super affordable for me and would be amazing! I wouldn't have to wait longer to prove my income on something that price.

However, I'm wondering if it's a good investment or, like someone told me, "if house prices are that low, you'll likely be in a poor area and not have great tenants." Looking for advice from people who have been in the rental business for a while. Looking for ways to create more passive income for myself.

I guess an additional question is how profitable should I expect a short term rental to be in that area? I have resources I use to get an estimated idea of that, but always good to hear from someone whos already in the game. TIA!

[Gloria N Gear]

Do you live in South Bend?  If so, you should know the areas.  Buy close to Notre Dame and the nicer areas for game days, graduations, and families visiting.  Find a realtor that knows the transitioning areas, there are a lot of "not-so-nice" areas in South Bend that would not work for short term rentals, but there are also plenty of great neighborhoods.