BRRRR in Charleston,WV

[Victor Chalouh]

Hi BP Community

I am from NYC and I am looking to get into investing in Charleston, WV. The reason I chose this area is because the taxes and insurance seem pretty low, and also because a friend of mine who owns a lot of property all over the country is getting into long term buy and hold rentals there, and did advise that we can bounce off of each other there and share strategies/contacts etc. 

I am really interested in the BRRRR method, and I am typically looking at houses in the 20-30K range to start. I don't want to pour in a ton of money into this just yet as it is my very first investment property. I do own my home in Brooklyn and I did do gut renovations at first, so I somewhat know what to lookout for when it comes to a fixer upper. There were also houses in Charleston for under 5K but those are beyond destroyed and they make me a bit uneasy, not going to lie. I think cosmetically it shouldn't cost more than 15-25K and all in I will be in for about 50K. Comps in the area for a nice decent house are between 80-100K
 

I just want to know if anyone has any experience in forcing equity in these types of low end properties. My end goal is to refi and pull my money out, maybe even plus some if possible, and have HUD tenants pay off my mortgage. and then do it again and again and again.

I think at first I need to make good contacts with Local handy men and have them go on calls for me until I have enough doors to hire a management company.  

I did a ton of research and it seems like Charleston is a decent area for what you are paying, but can anyone give me any first hand experience from there? I am sick of reading all of these damn google articles.  

I am also seeing a lot of posts on local rentals saying NO HUD. why would that be? I would also appreciate feedback from anyone who has prior experience dealing with HUD tenants.

Thank you all very much for reading