And then there was light...

[Will Stahl]

This is my first post on Bigger Pockets and I hope there's many more to come. My name is Will and I'm 24 years old living in Westchester, NY. I graduated college 2 years ago and have been working as a business analyst. I consider myself lucky because the job pays well. But the idea of doing this or anything which involves me sitting in a windowless box for the next 40 years sounds awful-terrible-miserable. I'm not sure which term describes it best. I know too many people who've do that their whole lives and have little to show for it. I've been reading and listening a lot over the past month and it really has opened up my mind. I've realized that the game can be played in a different way. Getting out of the rat race seems possible without putting in 40+ years of work. Let me give you an idea of where I'm at so far.

First off, I think its important to start off with my financial upbringing. I was taught from a very young agethat you want to get a good job with a strong company, work your way up the ladder, save money into your 401K. Extra money gets invested into stocks. Most importantly, avoid occurring debt all cost! ('Good' advice, but advice that leads you to get stuck)

BP has really opened my mind. I'm open to the idea of investing in real estate and am excited to learn about it. Given New York is so expensive, I'm looking into investing out of state. Specifically, Single Family Homes In cheap states with the intention of renting them out to generate cash flow and increased equity in the property. However, there are a few questions that are weighing on my newly-born real estate mind that I hope I can get some thoughts from the community. Investing out of state in real estate has many obstacles that i'm afraid will prevent me from jumping in. Please help get me going.

1. How do people buy out of state? I work and live in New York. I get 2 Weeks of vacation from work. How can I manage to buy a house, have a contractor perform the needed work on it, and rent it to responsible tenants while being in New York for 50 weeks and the place of the rental for only 2 Weeks?
2. Will a Real Estate Agent Work with me even if I'm out of state? How do we go about searching for properties? I'm assuming only the agent has MLS access and I need to rely on them? 
3. How do I go about finding a contractor (Who wont scam me) when I'm so far away? If I did find one, I wouldn't be there for when the work is being done (Or not all of it probably).
4. How do I go about getting the place rented?
5. I'm thinking about putting 20K into my first property. Including the down payment and repairs. I'm looking to spend 85K max. For this price range what advice/strategy do you have to give?
6. Random question, is there a way people go about finding out what areas are good/bad (Crime/Schools)?

Thanks already everyone. I'm looking forward to what is ahead. I really want to press. I think my next step is to start crunching some numbers to get good at finding deals. Practice makes perfect. I'll be sure to keep posting. 

[Cody L.]

My very first income property was in houston (I live in San Diego). A friend of a friend did property management out there.

To get more business he'd find homes that would make good rentals and pitch them to investors. He found one for me (no renter at the time). I bought it, he tossed a renter in there and managed it. I then bought another.

It was totally turn key. They'd collect rent, pay bills, deal with tenant issues, etc. they'd pay me some proceeds every few months.

I didn't even see either of them till years later (when I went to houston to grow my holdings, but that's a long story). I couldn't have told you where they were on a map.

Anyway, there are lots of companies out there like that. Or you can buy a house with a renter in it. If you qualify for traditional financing (sounds like you would with your job) you can get a tremendous return on your down payment funds.

Good luck man. Once you get started it becomes addicting. I don't have an addictive personality generally but if I don't have a deal under contract or in the pipeline I get itchy :)

[Cody L.]

My very first income property was in houston (I live in San Diego). A friend of a friend did property management out there.

To get more business he'd find homes that would make good rentals and pitch them to investors. He found one for me (no renter at the time). I bought it, he tossed a renter in there and managed it. I then bought another.

It was totally turn key. They'd collect rent, pay bills, deal with tenant issues, etc. they'd pay me some proceeds every few months.

I didn't even see either of them till years later (when I went to houston to grow my holdings, but that's a long story). I couldn't have told you where they were on a map.

Anyway, there are lots of companies out there like that. Or you can buy a house with a renter in it. If you qualify for traditional financing (sounds like you would with your job) you can get a tremendous return on your down payment funds.

Good luck man. Once you get started it becomes addicting. I don't have an addictive personality generally but if I don't have a deal under contract or in the pipeline I get itchy :)

[Fabio Salas]

There's a lot of ways to invest in real estate. If you want to own a property but have no time for the process of finding a property and seeing it through to having it rented and managed, then a turn-key company may suit your needs. Your returns won't be nearly as great, but if you're diligent about finding a good turn key company you should still be able to at least meet the 1% rent-to-purchase guideline. With your price range the markets are limited so make sure to stay out of 'war zones' just to meet your financial parameters. That said, there are some places in middle America that still sell for that price range and may work for you. Nowadays the internet has just about all the information you need so finding crime rates for different cities is just a matter of searching online. Read local news for each city, watch vlogs/podcasts about REI, look up specific major cities that interest you...there's a million and one ways to find info on different cities. Google can be your best friend here. As with anything else, just make sure to be wary of the sources you gather your information from.

On the other hand, if owning a rental property is not passive enough due to time constraints, you could consider other means of REI. For example, you could become a Private Money Lender (although you'd probably need to save up quite a bit more money for this), you could invest in rental property funds, you can buy and sell notes, the list goes on.

Personally, if I was in your situation I would want to own actual rental properties and start building a portfolio.  You're very young so if you keep at it, even with your limited time off from work, you could accumulate a pretty decent portfolio by the time you're 35.  There are tons of people who do it in a matter of just a few years, but with your work hours 35 might be a more realistic goal.

Good luck and keep learning.

[Will Stahl]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I've read a bit into turnkey properties and It seems like they really take out the chance to make a good return on investment. However, I understand that the reason they exist is because of people like myself who are in a situation where they don't have much knowledge or time. I wonder if the best way for me to get started is to save up money for a few years and move somewhere that will allow me to live and work nearby the real estate id like to own. I just feel like I feel i set this as my next step it will never happen.

[Larry Fried]

@Will Stahl Welcome to BP!  If you are looking to invest OOS, I wrote an article about various paths to take that are relatively passive Three Key Routes for Passive Real Estate Investing that you might find helpful.

[Sandy Sawyer]

Hi Will, welcome to BP!

I used to live in Brooklyn, now I'm in Houston. Gotta say it's pretty different down here! And the market is fierce! It's all about finding the deal, and having the cash (or access to cash) to do the deal. You may not know this, but Houston is the biggest metropolitan city with no zoning laws, which means neighborhoods differ drastically, you really have to know your areas. I feel like I have an advantage here since I'm also a realtor and also connected with various local investment clubs. All the good deals are pretty much done with cash off-market. Or at the county auction! There are laws here that favor landlords and owners. But you've really gotta partner with somebody that can steer you clear of danger. Lemme know if there's anything I can help you with.

Sandy

[Will Stahl]

Thanks for all the responses everyone! This is a great community. I appreciate ALL of the responses and am looking into each. I'll be making more post in the future about my progress, thanks!