Out of state investing

[James Figg]

Hello everyone,

My wife and I are new into investing and have just purchased our first rental out of state, Bullhead city, AZ. We live in Anaheim, CA and wanted to get into the buy and hold game for increased cash flow. We are currently refinancing our house to pull $85,000 out and to buy the rental cash to get better cash flow. Was that the right thing to do or should we have just put the 25% required down and had a mortgage on the rental?

Also, I was told by the y realtor that since we are out of state we need a property manager. Does anyone know if that is true or if it was just a recommendation. Of the ones I looked into they charge 10%. Is that a fair price?

Thanks,

[Joe Homs]

@James Figg  Welcome to BP. There is a local meetup in Lake forest every month that you should check out. http://meetu.ps/2QWCkh

If you would like to meet up before then and talk about investing let me know. I am in Mission Viejo and can meet at a Starbucks.

I just finished purchasing my next project at the court house steps and I am working on a few more.

As for your purchase. I would have financed as much as possible to still have a healthy cash flow.  It's an investment so you should let your tenants pay down the loan. You are taking money (equity) from your home and just shifting it to any other property. You want to be aggressive, then why not buy two or three more and leverage you money?  

Good investing.