Newbie in Asheville, North Carolina

[Jody Schnurrenberger]

Howdy!

I'm a buy and hold gal, recently medically retired from the Army. I've got a SFH and 2 sets of duplexes in Auburn, AL, my original hometown. (WAR EAGLE! lol) I've owned property since September 2001, though I'm looking to sell my SFH and purchase something else. But I think 3 in Auburn is enough, then I'm planning to move on to Raleigh, NC, where I might be moving next for school. After looking at that city, it seems like a good one for rental investments. :-)

I utilize property managers, even when I was closer, because I'm terrible at being the bad guy! Hey, know your weaknesses. Life isn't about being perfect, but about working around your imperfections. I'm just too nice, so I hire other folks for that part of the job. Not to mention, I'm pretty disorganized and am terrible at collecting rent on time even when I was trying to do it myself. lol I also have a financial planner who owns real estate as well and he helps me vet properties. (It was actually his idea to sell my SFH for something better and to stop buying in Auburn after this next deal in case something happens to the economy there...not having your eggs all in one basket type of thing.)

My SFH is paid for and my duplexes all rent great and cash flow, so while I'm not a genius at this whole real estate thing, I've got good folks helping and I'm doing alright for myself.

Who else is new on BP?  Who else is from AL or NC?  Who else is just friendly and wants to say hi?  :-)

[Chris Martin]

Jody, first thanks for your service and I wish you the best in your real estate endeavors.

One thing I want to say is that Fayetteville and Raleigh are quite different markets. I'm not sure this came out in any posts on this topic. I know of a few Raleigh area REI (Raleigh and suburbs) who bought property in Fayetteville and, to be polite, had to reset expectations. Not a knock on Cumberland county, but it ain't Wake. As along time investor in the Wake area, and more recent in Pitt (Greenville, NC a ) and Columbus (nada going on real estate wise) counties, I can't stress enough that these (Raleigh and F'ville) markets are almost as diverse as Asheville and Laurinburg. LOL! So all I ask/say is please go in with eyes wide open.

While my holdings in Raleigh and greater Raleigh are ~$2M less and 1/3 what they were 3 years ago, it is still a great place for most REI. Long term, I think it will be as good as most other NC cities for RE returns. The F'ville RE market to me seems more like Jacksonville NC. But personally I prefer Greenville NC over both (actually all) for residential real estate.

Again, good luck in your journey.