New Investor from CA Looking at Out of State Winston-Salem, NC

[Kyle Horjus]

Hey everyone,

My name is Kyle Horjus and I grew up in Turlock, CA, but am now renting in Santa Monica, CA. I'm 25 and my interest and knowledge in economics (degree) and finance (concentration) has me constantly looking for opportunities to invest. I am not interested in making real estate my career but rather using it as an investment vehicle to some day fund a small business I am passionate about! That being said I am willing to put in the work to find a great investment vehicle.

I stumbled upon a podcast by Clayton Morris who really got me thinking about buying, rehabbing, and holding out of state real estate and it made a lot of sense to me. Through his podcast I found out about bigger pockets which as I continued listening gave me a bit of a reality check, but I am still determined.

I don't have a heap ton of capital which is why I can't afford anything in CA (not to mention anything CLOSE to L.A.) but I'm a good saver and have a salaried job as a market manager for a travel company that would allow me to pay for a small loan. I am particularly interested in Winston-Salem since I've been there before and my uncle lives just in Raleigh an hour and a half away. There is a lot of opportunity here from the research I've done but I need help getting advice on whether I can trust an appraiser to do a walk through for me, hiring a general contractor without being there in person, and estimating rehab costs. These are my 3 biggest fears that have kept me from pulling the trigger on any deals or even contacting agents. If anyone has done this before successfully I would like to hear your story!