Bay Area House Hacker Looking for OOS Investment Opportunities

[Steve Wang]

Hey their BP!

I just completed my first house hack on a duplex in Oakland! I purchased earlier this year, remodeled both units, and found tenants right at the start of Shelter-In-Place (yikes that was nerve wracking) for the downstairs unit. I couldn't follow the BRRRR model since prices are so high and my down was around 11%, but I was able to remodel and refi my way to removing my PMI on my loan! That's going to help me cashflow even more in the future when I do rent my unit.

Now that I've dipped my feet into the REI world, I want to get out of the Bay Area since prices are so high it takes years of savings and doing an owner occupied loan to invest in the Bay Area for me. Also, I had to patiently wait for this deal to pop up on the MLS, but I believe that OOS has more deals. I'm now learning different markets so that I can accurately gauge a "deal" and what that looks like. So far, I'm looking in Cleveland OH, Indianapolis IN, Clarksville TN, and San Antonio TX.

I'm exploring the turn key model, but I'm not a fan of parking my cash into the property since the remodel aspect has already been taken out of the equation. I'd like to find properties in need of light remodeling in B class areas so that I can at least pull out some of the cash in the investment in a refi. Any guidance on the markets stated above would be great! I'm also self managing my current property, but would need to get in touch with property managers OOS, as well as a good general contractor! I'd gladly buy a virtual coffee to chat with others investing similarly!

[Sally Fairchild]

@Steve Wang

I love Clarksville,TN and have some rentals there, but great deals are elusive. I’m now looking in the Huntsville, AL area. It’s just south of Nashville by about 90 mins. It appears to have the deals that Clarksville use to have.

Advice- Find a good PM. There are a lot of bad ones out there. I have found that PMs can start off good and then go to sleep at the wheel.

I use PMs because I am a sucker for a sad tenant story, but I have no problem firing a PM that isn’t or has stopped looking out for my best interests. Good luck!