Newbie without a location

[Anjana Vakil]

After lurking on these forums for a few weeks now I guess it's time I introduce myself!

I currently live in Germany, but I'm originally from Schenectady, NY, and also lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for quite a few years, among other places.

Soon I'd like to come back to the States and buy, restore, and hold a small multifamily (2- to 4-plex), living in one of the units and renting out the other(s).

I'm not committed to a location, but areas I'm considering (where I have some ties) include:

- NY Capital District (Schenectady, Albany, Troy, Saratoga)

- New Orleans, LA 

- Austin, TX 

- Denver, CO

- Bay Area, CA 

Some of these (Bay Area, Denver, Austin) are probably much too competitive/expensive to be realistic, and I'm definitely open to other livable, growing cities as well. Ultimately I'm also interested in investing internationally, especially in Europe, but I think the US will be a safer place to begin.

BP and its community have already been so informative - thank you! I look forward to learning even more from all of you, and becoming a more active member :)

[Guy Gimenez]

@Anjana Vakil   I've been working the Austin market for 15 years and I'd say we're very close to peaking price-wise. Lots of investors who never considered buying outside of Austin are now actively working the suburbs as the competition is stiff and the margins are getting quite thin.  Still money to be made here but it's harder and harder to find deals right now. 

With that said, the rental market is as strong as I've ever seen it. The high prices of properties along with the influx of new residents and low availability of rentals is driving rent prices through the roof.