Hello from Israel, looking to invest in the US

[Or Martonovitch]

Hello friends,

I am a new investor currently learning passionately and looking for my first investment.

I live in Israel, and here the real estate prices are very high with high price/rent ratio. I have never seen myself as a local investor or even a local person. I see the entire world as an opportunity for investing, travelling and living. 

So for my first investment I'm looking in the US, and will choose a single-family home or small multi family home in the price range of $50-100K.

I assume that because I live far, very far, connections and cooperations will be very important for me. So I hope I will find good people and good connections here in the community!
The one thing that concerns me the most is the making phone calls part, because I'm from out of the country and have accent which is not American :)

And also, if you have tips for investing remotely in another country, I would be happy to hear!

Nice to meet you and good luck to everyone!

Or Martonovitch

[James Wise]

Originally posted by @Or Martonovitch:

Hello friends,

I am a new investor currently learning passionately and looking for my first investment.

I live in Israel, and here the real estate prices are very high with high price/rent ratio. I have never seen myself as a local investor or even a local person. I see the entire world as an opportunity for investing, travelling and living. 

So for my first investment I'm looking in the US, and will choose a single-family home or small multi family home in the price range of $50-100K.

I assume that because I live far, very far, connections and cooperations will be very important for me. So I hope I will find good people and good connections here in the community!
The one thing that concerns me the most is the making phone calls part, because I'm from out of the country and have accent which is not American :)

And also, if you have tips for investing remotely in another country, I would be happy to hear!

Nice to meet you and good luck to everyone!

Or Martonovitch

 Welcome aboard Or.

You'll likely be looking at the turnkey markets so you can hit the $50k-$100k price point. Tons of turnkey markets out there. Many of these markets are very well represented by sellers & turnkey operators here on BiggerPockets. In no particular order I have listed some of the most popular markets for out of state investors

• Cleveland, Ohio
• Dayton, Ohio
• Toledo, Ohio
• Youngstown, Ohio
• Cincinnati, Ohio
• Memphis, Tennessee
• Birmingham, Alabama
• Kansas City, Missouri
• Saint Louis, Missouri
• Indianapolis, Indiana
• Detroit, Michigan
• Erie, Pennsylvania
• Louisville, Kentucky
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Jackson, Mississippi

Each of these markets is popular with turnkey investors because of the low barrier to entry, high rental demand & high rent to price ratio. I recommend setting up keyword alerts for each area as they are discussed in the forums daily with advertisements posted in the BiggerPockets marketplace hourly.

One thing to note when looking at the individual markets, you can make or loose money in any market. Don't think that one particular out of state market will shoot you to success or abject failure. It's not really that complicated to buy out of state. It only becomes complicated when investors try to over complicate or over think everything. Whenever you are buying a property out of state you should do a few things to ensure it's as smooth as possible.

• Don't buy in the roughest neighborhood in the urban core. Pick a solid B-Class suburban area. Perhaps a nice 1950's built bungalow.
• Always hire a 3rd party property inspector to give you an unbiased feel for the home. The reports are 40-90 pages long and go through the entire house in great detail.
• Get an appraisal. If your using financing the bank requires this. This is good. The bank isn't going to let you blow their money. They have more skin in the game then you do.
• Make sure you get clear title. If using a lender this is a non issue. They will make you do this. It's those maniacs that buy homes cash via quit claim deed off of craigslist that really get screwed.
• Make sure your property manager is a licensed real estate brokerage.
• Google Clayton Morris and/or Morris Invest for a cautionary tale of what not to do when buying turnkey real estate
• Understand you can not eliminate all risk, only mitigate it. If you are risk adverse real estate, (especially out of state) is not for you.