First Investment Property - Best market for a new Investor

[Syed Mehdi]

Hello, I am hoping to pick up my first investment property and looking for insight from people who have done what I am trying to do. I am currently in Long Island, NY and investment properties here are very difficult to acquire and the numbers don't work. NY is extremely tenant friendly and sometimes takes months to years to get someone out of your property. I am narrowed down to three options to acquire my first rental property. 

My first option would be acquire in a market I can drive to (3-4 hours away), example; Harrisburg, PA. My second option would be a market I cannot drive to example; Cincinnati, Ohio. My third option would be to house hack, although the numbers don't work in Long Island, it would give me experience on being a landlord before I start investing out of state. I really want a market that is landlord friendly, I've been scarred seeing how bad being a  landlord is in NYC. 

I don't know how many of you have out of state rentals, and how many would recommend a new investor to take the leap and invest out of state on their first property. 

Thank you for your time.