Newbie from New York City - Looking to invest in indianapolis

[Celine Liminet]

Hi BP community! My name is Celine and I am new to real estate investing. I have been on the site for over a month and learnt so much about REI. I am excited to start! I read articles, the posts on forums and listened to the many awesome podcasts. I am amazed at what a great source of information Bigger Pockets is and everyone's willingness to share their knowledge and experiences (I hope to be able to contribute in the future).

Investing in my local market, New York City, is not an option at this time!! So I am looking to invest in Indianapolis as it is a good market for rental properties. I am looking to buy and hold single family houses for long term positive cash flow. My goal is to buy 2 properties next year and increase the number in the following years. I am currently educating myself on REI investing and gathering information on the key players in the team I need to build in Indianapolis.

Because I am an out-of-state investor, I am seriously considering turnkey properties (I don’t want to handle any rehabs and am looking for rent ready properties). I have seen the name of 3 turnkey companies in Indianapolis quite often in the forums (FS Houses, Norada Real Estate and Pinnacle Investment Properties) and I would like to hear from those of you who have had an experience with these turn-key companies or with other turn-key companies in Indianapolis. Any recommendation of good PMs, local bank lenders (willing to make small loans) and experienced investors friendly realtors (including with out-of-state investors) would also be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance for you feedback and advice.

[Ali Boone]

Welcome Celine! I live in LA so have the same problem as you do in NY...impossible to buy locally for cash flow. I've been involved with turnkeys for a few years now. I started buying my own properties all turnkey and haven't looked back sense. I love that all the work is done for me and can't imagine trying to deal with it all on my own!

Indy has been a booming investors' market for a few years now. I admit it's not my favorite one out there, but it still has some good properties to invest in. As far as the companies you mentioned, I don't know FS Houses (never heard of them) but Norada and Pinnacle both aren't the actual turnkey sellers themselves, instead they work with turnkey sellers. There is no problem with that, but sometimes people don't realize there are turnkey companies out there who aren't actually the sellers themselves.

I would say the only thing to watch out for in Indy is really just differentiating the companies. Indy is a lot like Memphis in that a ton of turnkey companies have popped up over the years. I know of a few experiences with some not-so-hot ones (none of the companies mentioned here) and not sure if those guys are still in business, but I would definitely do due diligence on who you are working with. You just want to make sure that what you are buying is what is advertised. There are some excellent turnkey companies there as well, so it's just a matter of figuring out who is the best. 

The only other thing about Indy to keep an eye on, or ask about, is how the appraisals have been there lately. If you are planning to finance, at least. While I was working around Indy a couple years ago, the appraisals were coming in notoriously low. That may have been fixed since, but I'd be sure to ask if you are going the mortgage route.