I’m considering investing in Detroit and/or Texas around Dallas

[Sam Lopez]

Hey all,

So I’ve been looking around online in the downtown Detroit area. I’ve also searched the forums for conversations regarding Detroit and it seems that the most recent conversation is a couple months old. I’d like to hear of anyones recent experience from anyone currently investing in the Detroit area downtown or suburban.

Same goes for Dallas or Fort Worth area.

I'm utilizing the buy and hold approach for now. Trying to buIld cash flow. Im only pursuing cash purchases, not BRRR, only because my wife is not comfortable with leverage...one step at a time..

If you have any experience with a great investment realtor and/or property management team in either of those areas, I’d like to reach out to them and get started pursuing purchases in either state.

Also, if you have any experience on areas to stay away from, I’d appreciate that as well.

Thank you for any advice

[James Wise]

Originally posted by @Sam Lopez:

Hey all,

So I’ve been looking around online in the downtown Detroit area. I’ve also searched the forums for conversations regarding Detroit and it seems that the most recent conversation is a couple months old. I’d like to hear of anyones recent experience from anyone currently investing in the Detroit area downtown or suburban.

Same goes for Dallas or Fort Worth area.

I'm utilizing the buy and hold approach for now. Trying to buIld cash flow. Im only pursuing cash purchases, not BRRR, only because my wife is not comfortable with leverage...one step at a time..

If you have any experience with a great investment realtor and/or property management team in either of those areas, I’d like to reach out to them and get started pursuing purchases in either state.

Also, if you have any experience on areas to stay away from, I’d appreciate that as well.

Thank you for any advice

 I am by no means an expert in the big D but in addition to Detroit there are actually tons of turnkey markets out there. Many are well represented by sellers & turnkey operators here on BiggerPockets (myself included) The most popular markets are

• Cleveland (my market)
• Toledo
• Memphis
• Birmingham
• KC
• Indy

Each of these markets is popular with turnkey investors because of the low barrier to entry, high rental demand & high rent to price ratio. I recommend setting up keyword alerts for each area as they are discussed in the forums daily with advertisements posted in the BiggerPockets marketplace hourly.

One thing to note when looking at the individual markets, you can make or loose money in any market. Don't think that one particular out of state market will shoot you to success or abject failure. It's not really that complicated to buy out of state. It only becomes complicated when investors try to over complicate or over think everything. Whenever you are buying a property out of state you should do a few things to ensure it's as smooth as possible.

• Don't buy in the roughest neighborhood in the urban core. Pick a solid B-Class suburban area. Perhaps a nice 1950's built bungalow.
• Always hire a 3rd party property inspector to give you an unbiased feel for the home. The reports are 40-90 pages long and go through the entire house in great detail.
• Get an appraisal. If your using financing the bank requires this. This is good. The bank isn't going to let you blow their money. They have more skin in the game then you do.
• Make sure you get clear title. If using a lender this is a non issue. They will make you do this. It's those maniacs that buy homes cash via quit claim deed off of craigslist that really get screwed.
• Make sure your property manager is a licensed real estate brokerage.
• Understand you can not eliminate all risk, only mitigate it. If you are risk adverse real estate, (especially out of state) is not for you.