New member doing research

[Matt Wan]

I'm newly interested in real estate as an investment. Up to now I've put my money into the stock market and I'm looking into diversifying into real estate as well.

My current goal (assuming I decide to move forward) is to actively start in a year or two by buying a single modest place as a long-distance investor. As I gain experience I would expand. Once I have a strong system set up, I don't want to dedicate too much time to real estate, though.

It's also important to note that I'm a US citizen who wants to invest in US real estate, but I live abroad. I have a US credit score, US bank accounts and some US-based income, but my paychecks are not. I also wouldn't be involved in day-to-day operations onsite. I view this last point as an advantage, because it leaves me open to any market and forces me to build a hands-off system.

[Ben Trageser]

Pleasure to meet you Matt! Coming here is a good start to help understand what your appetite is for real estate. I work extensively with expats and they have had a lot of success investing in the US. I would recommend narrowing down where you want to invest to a few areas. From there, network and do your research about the area, have all of your "ducks in a row" to then action on a property if you see it come on the market and the numbers make sense.