New Member Investing from Overseas - Where/How do I Start?

[Sam Marquez]

Hi everyone,

Happy to finally be jumping into the community here. I've been nibbling around the edges of BP for years - sharing it with friends, listening to all of the podcasts, reading blogposts - but I've decided that it's time to stop messing about and finally get started (lest I become someone who fails, gives up, or never gets started.)

I'm currently feeling both overwhelmed by the vast number of potential strategies out there, and uncertain about how to proceed given my situation. I'm a US expat living in Singapore who has never invested in real estate before. I'm primarily interested in buy-and-hold rentals or multi-families, but I'm unsure of how to start.

I've heard plenty about the BRRR strategy, but that's not something I can do in my local market (Singapore has both high housing prices and low comparative rents). I have been looking into turnkey investing but the general sentiment on BP seems to be decidedly lukewarm on them. I have done a bit of looking into local markets, but it seems to be complicated (there can be lots of legal/cultural challenges when investing in SEA as a foreigner). That said, I'm open to being proven wrong on any of those fronts.

So, I'm curious as to what my options are here. Invest remotely? Do more digging about nearby markets (still remote, but close enough to visit)? What have y'all found to be successful?