Somewhat New To Bigger Pockets

[Michael Johnston]

I’m from a very low income state , West Virginia Charleston to be exact. We have a declining population which is dropping rapidly while the whole state population is 1.8 million and some cities have that alone. Now my question is should I invest in a nearby state or should I grab up these low price real estate properties, I’m sure the state will gain its traction back. I’ll take any advice , thank you.

[Thomas Good]

@Michael Johnston.

Welcome.

As a fellow WV investor, I understand your concerns about investing in WV with our declining population. I've also considered investing outside of the state and may do so next year. 

I rehab and resell single family properties in the Charleston and Huntington areas, and I own SFR and MFR units. I feel it is more difficult finding WV properties in good resell areas than other areas in the country. I joke with my business partner that if we can scratch out a living in WV, we could prosper in other areas of country with good systems.

I'm not of the opinion that southern WV will turn around anytime soon and show growth opportunities. The population decline started in the 1950's and continues today. @Amad Osman mentions the drug epidemic. It has grown exponentially since I started investing. Because of the drug epidemic finding quality tenants has become much more difficult in the last 2 years especially for the lower priced properties. 

I unfortunately took the advice of a mentor and purchased a lot of inexpensive rental properties in declining neighborhoods during my first year. These neighborhoods are the ones with vacant, boarded up homes. I still have most of them today, and they have not provided the cash flow that I had anticipated. We instituted some new management processes and tools recently, and are starting to see some positive results. I still have the problem of an exit strategy. It will be difficult to sell these to another investor when it comes time to exit.    

I would advise you to determine your investing niche and decide if it could work in the neighborhoods of the Charleston market.   

Best of luck.