New investor from Boston looking to invest out of state

[Ben Koslof]

Hi all! I have never invested in any properties but I have been thinking about doing so for some time. I have been doing a lot of research and decided that the best way to create passive cash flow is through owning rental properties. That is why I have decided to go the buy and hold route and embark on this journey once and for all... I also have decided to invest out of state, as I am from the East coast and properties are very expensive in my own backyard. My focus is in blue-collar working class neighborhoods in B or C neighborhoods in cities such as Jacksonville, Austin or Indianapolis. I like Jacksonville because of its consistent job growth, Austin for its recent population boom and Indianapolis for its low prices and high ROI. I also know that I would like to invest in single family homes renting anywhere from $500-$1000/month for homes costing anywhere from $30-65k including renovation costs. These are typically builders grade homes with 2-3 beds and 1-2 baths. I am looking to start turnkey to dip my feet into a market, but eventually would like to get a team started in a targeted city. This would involve boots on the ground including realtors, contractors and property management. I believe real estate is a business that involves 20% working the numbers and 80% dealing with people. I know that the key to successful real estate investing is having great relationships with your investment partners. So that is my story...I am glad to have found this community and look forward to speaking and listening to the many fellow investors on this site as I embark on this journey. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me to talk at anytime. I would love any advice or suggestions and welcome any contacts looking to connect with potential investors, especially those in target cities. I also just like discussing real estate and investing strategies in general, and look forward to sharing my experiences as I start my life as a real estate investor. Thank you for taking the time to read my post and hope to hear from many of you soon! Take care, Ben K. from Boston

[Jeb Brilliant]

HI @Ben Koslof and congratulations. I myself invest in Indianapolis and think it’s a great city. I can’t speak for the other cities u named but will share a few poInts to help. 1. U want to stick with B grade unless ur a seasIned Investor about to buy at least ~10 SFR quIckly. 2. Only buy homes that will rest for over $700, anything less and u’ll be renting to the wrong people. 3. U can’t easily find B class properties to be all in for $65k. You will have to build some strong relationships with some serious wholesalers and then buy a few deals from them before they’ll share the BEST deals with u. Even then you’ll have to have a significantly higher price point. I’d be happy to chat with u about it and see if I can make a few additional suggestions but as u said u need a solid team and it will take some time. My suggestion is to start with a blog post from a few years back that had something like ~80 questions for PM’s, waddle that down and then find yourself 2 PM’s, pick one and alternate giving them properties. So once u have 10 SFR’s each PM manages 5. After that continue building your team but a good PM is worth their weight in gold. If u want to chat about any of this I’d be happy to and if u want to run some names of PM’s, GC’s, wholesalers and so on by me I’m happy to share my thoughts on them if I know them. Good luck!