New investor from Los Angeles - looking to start out-of-town investing

[Julie McCoy]

Hello all!  My name is Julie, and after over a decade of wanting to be a real estate investor, I'm finally taking steps to do it.  Bigger Pockets has been a fantastic resource already, and has really been the push I needed to stop thinking and start doing.  Better yet, it's made me realize that I don't have to invest locally (so hard to do in Los Angeles!) or actively manage my tenants - which has made a dream into a possibility.

A little about me - I work in the film production industry, which I love but is extremely demanding of my time and not especially flexible.  I live in Los Angeles (Hollywood, specifically), which isn't exactly a cash-flowing city, and as much as I love it, it seems a poor choice for me to begin my investment career.  I have capital that is currently invested (and performing well) in the stock market - but I've experienced the rise and fall of markets, and would like to own something tangible that will also generate cash flow.  And at the end of the day?  I've always loved real estate - I love looking at houses, envisioning how they can be improved, and how one can make money off of them.

On Bigger Pockets I'm hoping to begin networking with people who have similar goals: cash-flowing out-of-town single-family or multi-family homes to buy and hold.  I want to learn how to research a market (on a city and neighborhood level), find a great team to work with me in my chosen city/cities, learn the tax implications of being a real estate owner and landlord, and more.  My goal is to purchase my first property before the end of 2015.

Current cities I'm researching are Nashville, TN (I lived there for a few years and loved it, and like that I'm familiar with it) and Charlotte, NC (Not as familiar as Nashville but another city I enjoy and close to a family home in Asheville).  I'm certainly willing to go beyond them, but that's where I'm starting my journey.

I'd love to hear from all of you!  @AliBoone, your posts/blogs in particular have been helpful and inspiring.  And I know I'm just scratching the surface here at BP, so I'm looking forward to all the knowledge everyone shares so willingly.

[Jay Hinrichs]

@Julie McCoy

  depending on your time constraints you may want to look at alternate investments from owning far away rentals... As many make it out to be passive and simple is simply is not that ... they can be rewarding but you do need the time to engage and manage your manager if your too busy to take calls from a PM on the spot and make quick decisions it can cost you thousands..

You can buy cash flow rentals in CA  within a few hours of were you live that will do as well if not better than many markets... you may want to check those out as well.

And if you have friends and family in Nashville I would certainly start there as opposed to a place you have no known associates other than those you meet on line and think are nice !.

From my personal perspective I think once the crowd funding rules change to allow non accredited investors into the game.. this will be a game changer for the smaller investor looking to get started.. If for nothing else as you have safety with a professional team placing deals... And they are much more passive than trying to own rentals.. Just something to consider.. Once you do a few of those deals follow the paper work get some confidence in what it really takes to be a RE investor then maybe actually owning one on your own would make sense.. I think the first time newbie buying their very first rental and does it in a area that is all the way across the country is taking on a little more risk than anyone will let you know about ( IE those trying to sell them to you and or its their livly hood to sell them... ) its just human nature.  Its a big world of RE investing and there is a lot more to it than buying a rental house..

Good luck