Out of state investor looking at Cleveland

[Mahmoud Hass]

Hi BP,

My name is Mahmoud and I am an investor looking for long term buy and holds where I can rent for positive cash flow. I live in CA and there aren't many opportunities there...I got my first deal back in 2016 and have been self managing it. It's going well, but I'm looking to expand my portfolio.

With the experience of managing my current rental, I know I do not want to be a landlord. I just want to invest and "collect the checks" rather than managing the day to day work. My primary employment is my main source of income, and real estate is a side hustle that might allow me to work less in the future, but mainly is to hopefully set up my future generations of family to inherit passive income.

I am looking at Cleveland as an out of state investor...but really have no clue on how to get started. I don't want to buy turnkey properties and I have read the returns are not as high as advertised, and I'm not looking to buy and investment from an investor. Ideally, I would want a trustworthy real estate agent to be able to guide me to the right, affordable property that can produce safe rental cash flow. I would want the property to be managed by a PM company as well.

The main concern for me obviously is living so far away from the property to the point where I cannot see it whenever I feel like it, and ultimately falling into scams. But when I think about it, there are times where I don't see my rental in CA for months, which makes me wonder if a PM company was managing it, there would really never be a reason for me to go see the property. I always hear stories about investors who say they haven't seen their properties in "years".

I understand there are risks to investing in out of state real estate. I was hoping you could share your experiences with me about investing in Cleveland so I can determine if it's worth the risk or if I should stay away. Please feel free to PM me if you are an agent, PM manager, etc. I would be looking to invest in the B or C neighborhoods. I am working with about 50k cash.

Looking forward to hearing about your experiences!

Mahmoud