Out of State Investing - How to Analyze

[Christopher Morris]

Hey BP! 
I am working on my future plan for investing. As I currently live in NJ and plan to buy another house hack in the coming months, I want to think further ahead as well. 

I have it stuck in my head that if I want to scale to a reasonable portfolio, it’ll be tough to do that in NJ with how high homes are priced. 

I’m starting to look into other states that have an easier barrier to entry which brings me to PA. I have some friends who grew up in the Lehigh Valley area which draws me there. I like what I’m seeing from Easton PA more specifically - especially it being so close to NJ so I can self manage. 

My question is, what are the data points I should be looking out for? I’ve read population growth and economic growth are good KPI’s to lookout for. What’s a good growth rate for each? Are there other factors I should look into? 

I know the most critical step is to build a team which I am confident I’ll be able to accomplish since I already have some friends that live there.

Any help would be appreciated! 

[Shawn Mcenteer]

Hi @Christopher Morris I'll let you know my wife and I got to Fi via house hacking in New Jersey. Plain and simple the reason we were able to acquire the properties we have over the years is because we leverage low money down loans. We have never purchased a home for more than 10% down. Most of the homes we have purchased are 5% down. The way I see it is most homes will cost you 25% down and renovations out of state will be difficult or very expensive so the ability to force appreciation becomes tough. Most out of states deals end up looking like an IRA, decent returns, safe but meant for very long term to get anywhere. BRRR house hacking using 5% down loan and applying down payment to renovations forcing appreciation is tough to beat and allows you to move quickly in NJ.