Looking for an advice !? Out of state rental property.

[Andriy Likhman]

Hi everyone after a long time of reading and learning here it's finally time to introduce myself. My name is Andriy and I'm from Brooklyn, NY.

I am looking to purchase my first rental property but I'm lost when it gets to location picking. Real estate in Big Apple is too crazy, to begin with, so I need something out of state. How to decide on the market? What to look for? Does it matter if it's a 3-hour drive or on the west cost? How is the experience of purchasing out of state when it comes to my availability there? 

I have about $50k cash to make the deal and pre-approved for $200k property with 15% down. 

Open to all advices on which location to start looking at with my budget. 

[Andrew Rosenberg]

@Andriy Likhman Midwest - Indy, Kansas City Columus Ohio, etc. The South - Alabama, Mississippi, letc. Are good starting points. Suggest you go on zillow, type in a city, enter your criteria and read anout several properties - this is just to get a feel/gauge for what work for you. Next do BP forum searches of your short list of cities/states - so many posts to read through with great intel. I'm biases towards Ohio because there are several very active posters in those markets.

On a side note, picking the right team is as important, if not more important, than picking the city - within reason. There's many good investment cities, so honestly I wouldn't sweat picking "the best". Make sure to interview several realtors and make sure that they really are "investor friendly". Any realtor can claim they are investor friendly, but if they can't refer you to several good lenders, property managers and contractors they are just another sales person - dime a dozen.