Property Buying Strategy

[John T.]

Hey All,

I  purchased my first rental this past October. It is a duplex and I am living in half. So far it has been great. I was fortunate to have great tenants already occupying the other half and all is well. 

Now I am looking toward purchasing additional properties. One idea that I have in mind is buying them on a less desirable side of town. For instance there are many properties there that sell for $20-40k and probably need their fair share  of maintenance, but providing that is done and the tenants rent and pay their rent, they could be profitable endeavors. With this strategy, I would be paying a management and maintenance company to try to be as hands off of the operation as possible. What kind of working strategies are available here? 

What i'm looking for is a hands off investment property strategy. I am capable of some level of maintenance but I also have other things on the side that take up a large amount of time. Maybe commercial real estate would be better suited to this? What are your thoughts?

Thanks