New Member Investing in Las Vegas and Indianapolis

[Raj S.]

Hey everyone, 

I came across biggerpockets.com a couple months ago and started reading through some of the forums.  I was really impressed by all of the real estate advice and knowledge found on the site.  I finally decided to sign up and start participating in the discussions.

I'm from Bayside, NY which is located in the borough of Queens in New York City.  The real estate in my area has always been highly priced, with high taxes, and high expenses.  I've personally never seen a property in my area even close to having positive cash flow. 

I first got involved in real estate investing in 2012 when a friend of mine told me that he had bought a home really cheap in the Las Vegas area.  At the time Las Vegas real estate prices had already bottomed out and risen about 30% - 40% off the crisis lows.  They still looked pretty fairly priced to me.  I decided to take the plunge by buying my first property in Henderson, NV.  It was a recently constructed townhome in a gated community. 

I did my calculations and figured out that the property would rent for enough to pay the mortgage and expenses, and still put about a hundred dollars in my pocket every month.  Thinking that it was too good to be true, I immediately put 20% down, took an investor mortgage through a local bank, and felt like I had just struck gold!  A few months later I bought another townhome in a similar community also in Henderson.

SInce then Las Vegas real estate prices have risen another 15% - 20%, and seem to have pretty much leveled off.  I've learned a lot since my first couple of deals and altered my strategy accordingly.  I no longer invest in condos/townhomes because I realized that returns on single family homes are better in the long run.  I also realized that although returns on Las Vegas real estate seemed spectacular compared to NY, there are other areas of the country offering even better returns today.  Lately I've been spending a lot more time and effort focusing on the Indianapolis market.  I've been finding a lot of great deals.

I look forward to meeting fellow investors!