New investor from Colorado Springs area

[Baron Wheeler]

Wife and I have lived in teller county for the last 7 years and love it. Trying to take our next steps in our investing, primarily interested in long term buy and holds and maybe some fix and flips in the Colorado spring and Pueblo area.

thanks for the great forum!

[James Carlson]

@Baron Wheeler

Love Teller County. Will be showing some clients from Nebraska homes in Divide and Florissant tomorrow actually. 

Sounds like you have a good handle on the local market. Cash flow isn't super easy in Colorado Springs. If you furnish it and do a medium-term rental, you can get closer and even cash flow a bit with the right property. But in general, with rates the way they are, it's a break even at best type of market right now.

That said, like you seem to have a feel for, appreciation is where the majority of wealth is built in real estate. If appreciation averages 4% conservatively, and the median home price is roughly $450,000. That's $18,000/year. To match that in cash flow, you'd have to clear $1,500/mo. 

So yeah, if you plan to hold it for the long-term, you're about as solid as any other investment. (No one can guarantee what happens in a year or two, but for 15 years? Yeah, we know.)

Good luck!