New to the forum!

[Robert Johnson]

Hey everyone, I'm Robert and I'm new here (and to real estate investing in general). 

I'm interested in real estate from the perspective of generating cash flow for my lifestyle. I live in Austin, TX and everything is really expensive here so I'm assuming I'll need to be location-agnostic in where I look for property. I'm currently in the stage of trying to determine what net cash flow I can generate based on the cash I put down. 

I see the 1% rule but I'm not sure that means if I paid $200k in cash for a property it would generate $2000 / month in net cash for me right? There's insurance, set-asides for vacancies and cap ex, etc that need to be considered. And maybe there are ways better than outlaying that amount of cash? 

I do see my initial goal as "How do I generate $2500 / mo in net cash flow" though so if anyone has any advice on where I should look to determine how to do this I'm all ears!

Happy to be here!

[Min Zhang]

Hey Robert, welcome to BP! Based on what you have mentioned, it may be worth considering out-of-state (OOS) investing as a way to find more affordable properties that can generate your desired cash flow. I recommend you read this article on OOS investing. It explains the importance of creating your core four. You will need to get a local, rockstar Realtor, contractor, lender, and property manager.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/core-four-real-estate-team

I invest locally in Columbus Ohio. I can send you a list of contacts in Ohio to help you build your team, property manager. Let me know how I can help!