Starting in Raleigh Submarkets - Garner/Clayton Area

[Jason Williams]

Hi all, my wife and I want to purchase our first rental property in the Raleigh submarkets. I want to see who (here) owns rental properties in Garner/Clayton and their success with those properties. I'd like to learn about your experience.

Background on our strategy: Currently looking into a couple of different new townhouse communities off of hwy70 - near restaurants, shopping, and gyms. New construction floor plans are 1400 to 1600 sqft with 3b/2.5ba and 1 car garage. Initial cash investment $60K. Estimated monthly expenses $1250 to 1300. That is mortgage, HOA, tax, and insurance without factoring vacancy and repairs. Projected monthly rent $1500 to 1600 starting out. Not looking for fixer upper or multi-family homes as first investment property. Hoping to see home value appreciation over time.

[Adam Schneider]

@Jason Williams -- Here's my two cents on the topic of a new investor determining what property to buy. The first thing to do is to determine your goals and strategies. An investor's goals are usually in one or more of the following buckets--Increased Equity (think forced equity lift by adding a bedroom or fixing up a house), appreciation, cash flow, or tax related strategies. The different buckets will take you down different paths of an ideal property. Often, the best cash flow property and the best potential appreciation property are different. If you are looking for cash flow, HOA dues often create very heavy winds coming at you. The new build may not work for cash flow, but will minimize the aggravation and risk that investors "enjoy" with maintenance and CapEx issues. So, as a new investor, it may make sense to take a low-risk, low cash flow reward strategy and bank on appreciation. So, choose your strategy first, and then go down the path of the property that aligns.