Turnkey from Shanghai

[Adam Matteson]

Hello~

I’m a 35-year-old guy from western North Carolina living in Shanghai, China for the last five years. I save about $2,000/mo. So far, I have been investing all I can in Vanguard funds, but now I’m looking into real estate. I’m still very much in the education phase, learning how to analyse a good deal and trying to understand the numbers.

I think I can have about 30,000 USD ready by winter or spring of 2018, which should be enough for a down payment on a single-family home (say 20-25K plus a little padding). My credit score is 792. I am thinking to prioritise cash flow over appreciation, as appreciation is speculative and financial independence is my end goal.

Locations: I’m going to stick with the US because I know it’s less risky. I’m leaning towards North Carolina, Memphis, Florida, Atlanta and Kansas City – Nathan Brooks’s podcast interviews were inspiring.

My investing style is pretty hands-off. Rather, I’d be very involved at first then later hands-off. I would like to use a trustworthy and fair turnkey company that can do some hand-holding for my first property purchase.

Some questions I’m trying to figure out are:

1. How to finance the second purchase? Ideally, I’d like to buy several properties over the next few years with the rents producing income for me. However, I think it would take a while to accumulate another 20-30K for a down payment. I wonder if there is a quicker way to do this.

2. Is it wise to value cash flow over appreciation for a first property, or should they be balanced more equally considering my goals?

3. What is a reasonable cash flow to look for from a 20-25K down payment and working with a turnkey company? $1,500 per year? $3,000?

I’m happy to be here and grateful for any help! Also, if anyone is in Shanghai with a similar goal (or somewhere else with a similar goal, or in Shanghai with a different goal) just message me^^