New member from California, looking to invest long-distance
Bay Area, CA · Member since 2016 · 9 posts · 5 votes
Hey everyone!
My name is Jeremy, and I'm a Silicon Valley start-up veteran looking to transition into real estate within the next year. I'm currently reading BiggerPocket's "The Book on Rental Property Investing", and I'm using the rest of this year to learn, save, network, and develop a sense for deals to begin executing on next year. I'm looking to invest in the southeast US, plus my hometown of San Antonio.
I can't wait to interact with everyone here, to learn, grown, and hopefully, in some fashion, provide some degree of value to some of you as well.
Thank you!
If you want to invest in, say, San Antonio, then the best advice I can give you is to move back there first. There are so many major advantages to investing locally, and on the other side of the coin are so many disadvantages to trying to do it remotely, that it is inadvisable IMO for a newbie investor. Besides, you are already in one of the most profitable REI markets in the entire US, just have to learn how to invest there locally, and there are plenty of great local mentors (many on BP) that could help you with that. I've invested both locally in SoCal and remotely in Phoenix over the past nearly 15 years, and I've sold all my Phoenix property and kept all my SoCal property, so I speak from personal experience.
hi jeremy, welcome! newbie here too. just wished to introduce myself. formerly from washington, dc, i'm just getting started in the staging arena in california and i'm looking to make some connections as well. thanks and sincerely, sydney
Hi Jeremy welcome. This site is wonderful for networking. The ultimate guide to real estate investing on BP is a must read. The calculators and worksheets are helpful. You have a real opportunity to learn and build up a team to help you execute your real estate plans
Welcome @Jeremy Hicks. You're doing the right thing by dedicating much of this year to your real estate education before you leap into anything. The bay area has quite a few RE groups that you should look into. I believe @J. Martin runs a popular BP group up there that you should try to get connected with. A lot of smart folks to learn from there as well as here on BP.
Good luck!
You're in good company! BP rocks! And thanks for the shout out @O'Brian R.! I think @Johnson H. will be continuing my meetups when I'm gone.. I own property in the East Bay, but recently have been expanding my furnished rental business more into Silicon Valley to accommodate all the tech folks you're involved with, moving into town ;)
I haven't invested out of state, and takes research. But people make it work. It seems like having some connection there (like you do with San Antonio) seem to be a popular strategy to get started with it also.. I particularly love the Bay myself :)
I'm actually in Austin, TX right now hanging out with Lynn Currie from BP - so not too far from where you want to invest.. A lot of folks buying multifamily in these TX metro areas.. Hopefully will work out well for you.
Hey there and welcome to this platform. I'm excited to see other members in exactly the same stage as myself. Although I didn't plan to begin executing next year, I'm projecting that's about where it'll happen. And it just so happens that I live in the San Antonio area. It would be great to network with one-another and help each other learn. Please continue to strive forward and best of luck to you.
If you want to invest in, say, San Antonio, then the best advice I can give you is to move back there first. There are so many major advantages to investing locally, and on the other side of the coin are so many disadvantages to trying to do it remotely, that it is inadvisable IMO for a newbie investor. Besides, you are already in one of the most profitable REI markets in the entire US, just have to learn how to invest there locally, and there are plenty of great local mentors (many on BP) that could help you with that. I've invested both locally in SoCal and remotely in Phoenix over the past nearly 15 years, and I've sold all my Phoenix property and kept all my SoCal property, so I speak from personal experience.
Welcome @Jeremy Hicks!
@David Faulkner - I know investing locally is much better as you can visit property & see daily what's going on & be able to help when needed. I am a newbie flipper with limited budget of $75k. I invested remotely but via JV with another investor who is also wholesaler & realtor in San Antinio who has bought & rehabbed 50 properties himself. I know its very very hard to trust people but if local is not possible then you suggest I move to the city where I invest, wise for a short term rehab but if it's more than a few weeks because rain is delaying foundation repairs on my flip. I go there to do what? Watch the rain? We still have roof & interior/exterior to do. It was suppose to be 45 to 60 day flip turned into much longer than expected due to rain, storms.
I wish now I never trusted to buy in texas because of rain. Will never do again!
Welcome @Jeremy Hicks, lots of good folks here on BP, definitely make use of their knowledge and experience. San Antonio is a great market and rapidly increasing in popularity, but like anywhere it had its pros and cons. If you decide to invest back in SA, give me a yell and we can touch base if you like.
@Lucy Balyan, the rain has been pretty significant this year, but there've been some pretty nice stretches as well. How far into the project are you? If you want to PM me the address I can swing by and take a glance if you like. Let me know, and good luck with everything!
Welcome. TX is the land of opportunity.
Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere
Locate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings great place to meet people gather resources and info. Here you will meet wholesalers who provide deals and rehabbers (cash buyers). Find them through Google and meetup.com Do this via phone till you visit.
Two Great reads, I bought both J. Scott The Book on Flipping Houses, The Book on Estimating ReHab Costs http://www.biggerpockets.com/flippingbook
Download BP’s newest book here some good due diligence in Chapter 10. Real Estate Rewind Starting over
Good Luck
Paul
@Jeremy Hicks welcome to BP! Best/first thing to do is get educated. Read read read! Read books on investing in real estate, listen to the podcasts, attend webinars and stay active on the forums while connecting with other investors in your area and pick a niche. Best of luck!
Hey everyone!
My name is Jeremy, and I'm a Silicon Valley start-up veteran looking to transition into real estate within the next year. I'm currently reading BiggerPocket's "The Book on Rental Property Investing", and I'm using the rest of this year to learn, save, network, and develop a sense for deals to begin executing on next year. I'm looking to invest in the southeast US, plus my hometown of San Antonio.
I can't wait to interact with everyone here, to learn, grown, and hopefully, in some fashion, provide some degree of value to some of you as well.
Thank you!
Jeremey
Simple advice
Read everything you can BP and other real estate sites.
Attend local rei meeting As many as possible. See what local folks are doing.
Goals slowly prepare them so you have a plan off attack. Promise it will change but a good starting point.
Financial picture get in order first. Some many investors get involved in deals then are trapped as they are not financially able to handle the financial side of investing. Again this is if and when problems arise. Being prepared up front makes things go a lot smoother.
Exit strategies some thing to think about today as well. How to get in to the business but what is my end goal.
Hope that helps
Alex
@Jeremy Hicks Welcome to the site! Sounds like you've got an entrepreneurial background which can prove to be a great fit for the space you are now looking to embark in. It's an exciting space to be in with a virtually unlimited potential for growth, depending on what your goals are. I'm in San Antonio and to this day it's a hot market that much out of state money is pouring into.
Oh wow, what an incredible outpouring of advice and support; thank you all very much!
@Sydney Hall It's a pleasure to meet you! Best of luck, and let's definitely keep in touch. BTW, never been to SLO, but I've heard great things :)
@Jo-Ann Lapin Thanks Jo-Ann; it's wonderful to meet you! I'll definitely be picking up that book, and basically any book BP has ever published. Over the past week and a half I've probably worked through about 15-20 podcasts as well on my commute. It's a ton of information for sure, but I'm enjoying putting the pieces together slowly to try and get a gameplay moving forward. Best of luck to you!
@O'brian R. Thank you! I'll definitely be looking into RE groups over the coming weeks and months, and doing my best to be as active and engaged here on the BP forums. Thanks for the intro to @J. Martin (pleasure to meet you!); I'll definitely check that group out. Good luck to you as well!
@J. Martin I think it's awesome that you've been able to get involved in the Bay Area, and, if you're open to it, I'd like to pick your brain over coffee or lunch sometime (my treat, of course!) just to get to know you, your approach, and to see where I may be failing in thinking I must look out-of-state.
@Mohammad Haidarasl It's great to meet you, Mohammad; let's definitely keep in touch! I'd love to sync on potential deals--if if just analyzing for practice and bouncing them off of one another--and, potentially, making some of them work for real!
@David Faulkner Thank you very much for the advice; and that's something that I've mulled over heavily the past few weeks. Unfortunately, with my current line of work and needing to win over my wife on that one (that'll take a while...she's a Bay Area native :) ), that may not be an immediate option. I'll definitely be looking into what I can execute on in the Bay Area, though, unfortunately, cost can be pretty prohibitory in many facets. I'd love to pick your brain, if you're open to it! I'm sure there's plenty I'm missing re: investing locally in the Bay Area, even with the costs associated with it.
@Leslie Pappas Thank you, Leslie! Very happy to be here!
@Chad Clanton Hey Chad, thanks for your kind offer; just sent you a colleague request! I'd love to keep in touch, though I may not be an immediate investor as I'm really trying to a more solid grasp of the real estate world. But of course, you never know if the right thing comes along, and you've gotta be willing to take that first step eventually! Thanks again, and I look forward to staying connected!
@Paul Timmins Wow, thank you SO much Paul! That's a ton of great info and I'll definitely be reviewing it all. I sincerely appreciate it, and hope to continue to learn from you moving forward here on the BP forums!
@Ayodeji Kuponiyi It's a pleasure to meet you, Ayodeyi! I'll be checking out each of your links for sure, and will continue to "drink from the firehose" of information I've been coming across. Thanks again, and best of luck up in PA my friend!
@Alex Franks Thank you so much, Alex; that is great advice! I'm definitely focusing on the financial side of the house, properly saving, analyzing deals, cost forecasting (and then doubling it, for my first attempt to rehab and rent), but I've not given nearly enough though to exit strategy. Thank you for that reminder, and I'll be focusing on that a lot over the coming days and weeks. I'd love to stay in touch with you being in SC, as the greater Charleston area (along with Jacksonville, FL and the greater Atlanta, GA area) are three places my wife and I are looking at investing in (we'd love to settle down in the Charleston area one day, and having a local base for passive income would be wonderful). Just sent you a colleague request; thanks again so much!
@Tyler Roicki Thank you for your thoughts (I also received your colleague request as well!). I'd love to keep in touch over the coming months, and when I'm in San Antonio next (I'm trying to make it there more often to visit my family more than twice a year), perhaps we could sync up? Thanks again!
And once again, thank you all so, so much for the generous outpouring of encouragement and advice. It's definitely a 'scary' jump to take, putting so much money up and taking on all of the risk and responsibility that comes with that, but I know that as use the rest of this year to learn from books, meet ups, podcasts, and of course, this forum, I'll be able to replace a lot of the uncertainty with knowledge and confidence. Best of luck to you all!
Oh wow, what an incredible outpouring of advice and support; thank you all very much!
@Sydney Hall It's a pleasure to meet you! Best of luck, and let's definitely keep in touch. BTW, never been to SLO, but I've heard great things :)
@Jo-Ann Lapin Thanks Jo-Ann; it's wonderful to meet you! I'll definitely be picking up that book, and basically any book BP has ever published. Over the past week and a half I've probably worked through about 15-20 podcasts as well on my commute. It's a ton of information for sure, but I'm enjoying putting the pieces together slowly to try and get a gameplay moving forward. Best of luck to you!
@O'brian R. Thank you! I'll definitely be looking into RE groups over the coming weeks and months, and doing my best to be as active and engaged here on the BP forums. Thanks for the intro to @J. Martin (pleasure to meet you!); I'll definitely check that group out. Good luck to you as well!
@J. Martin I think it's awesome that you've been able to get involved in the Bay Area, and, if you're open to it, I'd like to pick your brain over coffee or lunch sometime (my treat, of course!) just to get to know you, your approach, and to see where I may be failing in thinking I must look out-of-state.
@Mohammad Haidarasl It's great to meet you, Mohammad; let's definitely keep in touch! I'd love to sync on potential deals--if if just analyzing for practice and bouncing them off of one another--and, potentially, making some of them work for real!
@David Faulkner Thank you very much for the advice; and that's something that I've mulled over heavily the past few weeks. Unfortunately, with my current line of work and needing to win over my wife on that one (that'll take a while...she's a Bay Area native :) ), that may not be an immediate option. I'll definitely be looking into what I can execute on in the Bay Area, though, unfortunately, cost can be pretty prohibitory in many facets. I'd love to pick your brain, if you're open to it! I'm sure there's plenty I'm missing re: investing locally in the Bay Area, even with the costs associated with it.
@Leslie Pappas Thank you, Leslie! Very happy to be here!
@Chad Clanton Hey Chad, thanks for your kind offer; just sent you a colleague request! I'd love to keep in touch, though I may not be an immediate investor as I'm really trying to a more solid grasp of the real estate world. But of course, you never know if the right thing comes along, and you've gotta be willing to take that first step eventually! Thanks again, and I look forward to staying connected!
@Paul Timmins Wow, thank you SO much Paul! That's a ton of great info and I'll definitely be reviewing it all. I sincerely appreciate it, and hope to continue to learn from you moving forward here on the BP forums!
@Ayodeji Kuponiyi It's a pleasure to meet you, Ayodeyi! I'll be checking out each of your links for sure, and will continue to "drink from the firehose" of information I've been coming across. Thanks again, and best of luck up in PA my friend!
@Alex Franks Thank you so much, Alex; that is great advice! I'm definitely focusing on the financial side of the house, properly saving, analyzing deals, cost forecasting (and then doubling it, for my first attempt to rehab and rent), but I've not given nearly enough though to exit strategy. Thank you for that reminder, and I'll be focusing on that a lot over the coming days and weeks. I'd love to stay in touch with you being in SC, as the greater Charleston area (along with Jacksonville, FL and the greater Atlanta, GA area) are three places my wife and I are looking at investing in (we'd love to settle down in the Charleston area one day, and having a local base for passive income would be wonderful). Just sent you a colleague request; thanks again so much!
@Tyler Roicki Thank you for your thoughts (I also received your colleague request as well!). I'd love to keep in touch over the coming months, and when I'm in San Antonio next (I'm trying to make it there more often to visit my family more than twice a year), perhaps we could sync up? Thanks again!
And once again, thank you all so, so much for the generous outpouring of encouragement and advice. It's definitely a 'scary' jump to take, putting so much money up and taking on all of the risk and responsibility that comes with that, but I know that as use the rest of this year to learn from books, meet ups, podcasts, and of course, this forum, I'll be able to replace a lot of the uncertainty with knowledge and confidence. Best of luck to you all!
Jeremy, way to respond to everyone :) You get out what you put into it. So it looks like you're starting off right ;) I would be happy to meet with you for a cup of coffee, except that I am taking a cross-country road trip right now. I'm hanging out in Austin right now, then mozying my way to Nashville, to drop down to the Bonaroo music festival :) Feel free to give me a call when I'm on the road. Probably Thursday. Then intermittently Sunday and Monday..
If you REALLY want to pick some pro's brains, lots of the pro's on here from across the country, and all the Bay Area big hitters, will be in Oakland on 8/27 & 8/28 for the big Summit (check out my TinyURL signature). Gonna be an awesome time, and the goal is to come out making some more money!!! $$$$ And some good contacts! So make it out if you can ;)
@Jeremy Hicks, no worries, best to do all your due diligence early in the game. I don't guru so feel free to look me up anytime you're looking for info in San Antonio. I certainly don't know everything, but I did my first investment down here from Virginia so I know a little bit about the distance investing concept. Take care and look forward to chatting with you.
@J. Martin, cool deal on your trip, my cousin runs one of the radio shows that covers Bonaroo every year. Should be a blast!
Hi Jeremy,
Having a lot of success in the TX markets. Currently building duplexes and fourplexes in San Antonio and can share ideas w/you on that. Depends on your goals but SA is a better cash flow market IMO and small MF work well. You can buy actively and have managed passively as I have a very good property manager who I've recommended to other BPers w/success. Perfect for long distance turnkey approaches. Cash flow very well. Close to I-35 Austin/SA corridor which is on fire !
If you want to participate in larger deals like 300 unit + apts, syndication is where its at if you are just starting out, an accredited investor and want to participate in great markets like Dallas while living in CA. I have put several CA investors into our latest deal there. Leverage experts who've carefully chosen select high growth markets, undervalued deals, w/solid total return potentials.
Get to SA, let me know and can meet you in San Marcos or New Braunfels for a coffee. Depending on your objectives can share some learnings, ideas. More than happy to help get you started.
Dave
@J. Martin Thank you kindly :) And my friend, if you've never been, you'll love Nashville! I spent several years in TN, and Nashville is one of my favorite cities. Be safe, enjoy, and whenever you're back in and settled and want some free grub, just let me know! And thanks for the heads up on the Summit, heading over to check it out right after I finish typing this up :) Thanks again!
@Chad Clanton Thanks again, and once I feel like I've got enough information in place to ask you real, actionable questions, I hope you don't mind my shipping those your way! I'd love to invest in my home town, and sincerely appreciate any help along the way (and of course, even if at minimum free grub for you or even help with deals, I'm happy to do all that I can in return!).
@David Thompson Wow, thank you so much! I'm not even sure where to begin with all of that, as it's both exciting and a bit overwhelming (in a good way!). I'll follow-up with you directly to chat a bit more about it, as I'd love to get into the multifamily game! Again, I can't say thank you enough, and look forward to interacting more!
@Jeremy Hicks Hi and welcome to BP! As others have already said, it is a great site to learn from, participate in, and give back to. You mentioned investing also in the southeast. Are their particular markets you have in mind? I got my REI start investing in Florida with a great turnkey company there.
@Larry Fried Thanks, Larry; pleasure to meet you! I'm looking into the Charleston, SC area (where my wife and I would eventually like to settle down), greater Atlanta area, and the Jacksonville, FL area, in additional to my hometown of San Antonio. We're trying to locate areas we have some form of connection of vested interest in, with San Antonio being the most obvious. We're looking into Atlanta and possibly Jacksonville as well to settle down, though, Charleston, SC is the current front runner.
I'm still in the planning and learning phases, but I'd love to talk and and learn anything from you! Thanks again Larry and I home to keep in touch!
@David Faulkner - I know investing locally is much better as you can visit property & see daily what's going on & be able to help when needed. I am a newbie flipper with limited budget of $75k. I invested remotely but via JV with another investor who is also wholesaler & realtor in San Antinio who has bought & rehabbed 50 properties himself. I know its very very hard to trust people but if local is not possible then you suggest I move to the city where I invest, wise for a short term rehab but if it's more than a few weeks because rain is delaying foundation repairs on my flip. I go there to do what? Watch the rain? We still have roof & interior/exterior to do. It was suppose to be 45 to 60 day flip turned into much longer than expected due to rain, storms.
I wish now I never trusted to buy in texas because of rain. Will never do again!
I was advising to move there permanently, or at least until you have all your investments made and stabilized, have some hands on experience in both RE and that market, and have built out a team locally working shoulder to shoulder with them and having the ability to spot and step in if/when they aren't a good match. We're talking a few years at least, not a week or a month.
I'll put it to you this way, REI is running a business. If there were a person that has never worked in a restaurant and said that they wanted to open a new restaurant in San Antonio and run it from San Fransisco, then nobody in their right mind would tell them that that was a good idea, even if they had a buddy who knew how to flip burgers in San Antonio. Yet somehow it is ok if the business is Real Estate instead of burgers?!?
Is it possible? Can it be done? Sure, I guess, anything is possible, but that doesn't mean it is a good idea IMO. Now, if there was a woman that owned 20 McDonalds franchises in CA, wanted to expand to a few more in AZ, and had a trusted GM that wanted to move there and oversee them, then yeah that seems more reasonable. And there is certainly the REI equivalent of that person, but they are not a newbie ... they have the experience, scale, and funds to do that, and that was earned first by operating locally. You could invest in those individuals in a syndication, and that would be a better route but still second to operating hands-on locally IMO ... that would be more equivalent of buying stock in Micky-Ds though ... I wouldn't call somebody who owned a share of Micky-Ds a restaurateur any more than I'd call somebody who bought into one of these syndications a Real Estate Investor, but it could be a good investment none the less.
welcome to BP @Jeremy Hicks
be sure you have a wealth of information before attempting an out of state investment.
but good luck on your investment journey!!
Welcome @Jeremy Hicks
You'll find BP the best resource for all REI. I wish you the best and lots of success!
Thank you @Comfort S.! I'll definitely be doing a ton of reading and question-asking over the next year or so, while also saving up and trying to gameplay how to execute as cleanly as possible on home #1. It's an exciting time for me, and while I cannot wait to finally be "in the game", I'll definitely be doing my best to make sure I do so as responsibly as possible.
Thanks again, and I hope to interact with both of you more moving forward!