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. 

[Trevor Naumann]

I help people buy investment properties all the time in upstate New York, mainly in the Hudson Valley. There are still very good cash-flowing deals to be found just a couple of hours away from you. There is also a large contingency of investors near Albany in the capital region who are successful. While New York can certainly have a bad reputation from a tenant-friendly perspective, I have found that this stigma mostly comes from the southern part of the state. Upstate and western New York function more closely to the midwestern markets. Connecticut could also be a good option, as it is close to you. Honestly, I think what might be more important is defining exactly what you are looking for while still being realistic, and then going from there as there are many areas of the northeast that are overlooked. Good Luck!