New Out of Area Investor

[Cory M.]

I've been lurking and replying on a few posts for a few weeks. So far BP has been super helpful. I figured I should finally introduce myself.

I'm new to real estate but not to investing in general. I've invested in stocks, traded options, and even a bit of crypto for years. I've always intended to invest in real estate (long term rentals) but never found the perfect deal. I decided that now is the time to finally jump in after realizing that all the okay houses I've passed on over the years would be great if I could buy them at the same price/rate today. Basically, an okay deal now is better than a great deal in another few years.

I live with my family overseas in a relatively unstable part of the world. I love my job. You couldn't pay me to leave it. But it doesn't leave me much time for other things. For that reason I've decided to go the turnkey route on my first property. I know it likely lowers the profit margins. That's a tradeoff I'm happy to make right now.

So far we have enough saved for a down payment (possibly 2), we've chosen a turnkey provider and market, and we've lined up funding for the first deal. I've made a detailed list of what I'm looking for in our first property. Sometime in the next month or 2 we plan to choose the exact property.

Short-term goal: Buy a turnkey single family or duplex which cashflows even after accounting for management and saving for future vacancies, maintenance and capex. Basically, I'm happy with a good deal, even if it's not a great deal.

Mid-term goal: Do it again in a year. If the first property is single family, I definitely want to try a duplex for the 2nd. We already have most of the 2nd down payment saved, but would like to be conservative for now and keep more in reserves.

Longer-term goal: Scale steadily but conservatively. Either try to buy more doors per year or "better" doors each year. At some (undetermined) number of doors, we'd likely start to use some cashflow to pay down the smallest loan. I know debt can help you scale faster. But I also like the idea of not having too much debt and owning things free and clear. It's okay with me if that limits my growth. I'm already pretty content.

Let me know if you all have any feedback or suggestions.

[Min Zhang]

Your plan sounds well thought out Cory! I always recommend to start with turnkey properties to get a feel of being a landlord. Going turnkey is a smart choice given your time constraints, just make sure you have a property management in place to handle the proeprties for you. If there's anything I can do, please let me know!