Long distance investing in Austin

[Kamrava Pirouz]

Hi everyone. I'm moving to New York in 2 months. Of course I can't buy anything there but would like to own property before I'm 28 (26 now). I know Austin has a bright future and I love the city, so I'd like to buy something here and manage it from NY. I'm open to investing in other cities, let me know your suggestions. 

I'm curious if there's a flaw in my strategy: Buy a duplex with existing long-term tenants that has decent cashflow and room for renovation. This way, I can immediately begin collecting cashflow from NY, and eventually come back to oversee a fix/flip. I need at least $200 cashflow per month after property manager's cut. Appreciation will be a bonus and I don't see Austin depreciating in the next 5 years. 

I've heard people say Austin is not a good place for multi-family investing right now. Why is this? Should I be using the same strategy on a single-family home instead? Any other advice on long-distance investing?

Thank you 

[Bryan Noth]

@Kamrava Pirouz Austin is definitely has a strong market for multifamily investing.  It may be tighter on cash flow and cash on cash return than other markets as @Kris Wong mentioned, but your cash flow calculations will almost always have more margin with multifamily investments than with SFR acquisitions. Both SFR and multifamily have merits in Austin, it is just a different strategy and for SFR I would consider the outskirts or suburbs where you believe growth is occurring or is likely to occur. And if we are honest, no one searches Austin, TX as 'best cash flow market' to invest in. It does frequently top lists for 'safest market', 'most recession resistant', 'best growing markets', 'markets to watch', etc.

The second part you mentioned is advice for long distance investing would be to establish some connections.  Network for contacts you may need when you relocate out of state.  Contractors, subcontractors, handymen, property management, real estate agent, lender, other investors, etc.  This can almost entirely be done virtually, but having some connections ahead of time adds a lot for your sense of security.