All Forum Posts by: Andrew Northcutt

 Thanks for the advice here! 

As I just mentioned in my recent reply, anything immediately near downtown Charlotte doesn't seem feasible for the reasons you mentioned. I have seen some deals toward the outskirts of the city that could seem promising but those are far and few and do not have enough knowledge of the rental markets yet to confidently say those can be good deals or not. I'm having the best luck finding lower monthly costing deals in the suburbs based on only a couple days of looking at these areas but again not super knowledgeable on the rental markets there yet either. 

Is there any resource for rent estimates specific to Charlotte that I should know other than the usual Rentometer, Redfin, Zillow, etc?

I am realizing that cash flow is likely to be pretty tight the first couple of years, which I am okay with because I believe the appreciation and rental growth will grow the cash flow overtime. Also, this is my first investment property so I am not expecting any homeruns, just learning experiences for my next few. 

I have definitely considered the BRRRR method and it seems like it would work well in Charlotte, but I figured that might be a little too complex for a first time investment. My thought process was to get started with a simple buy and hold to get some experience under my belt first and then potentially switching to BRRRR to help scale.

What are some of the smaller towns and cities you referenced? Would those be the Gastonia and Concord type areas or something else entirely? 

 Hey Jon, 

I appreciate the feedback here! The growth potential is one of the things that attracted me to the Charlotte area. I feel as if there's a lot of opportunity for appreciation and rental growth over time. As a result, I guess that makes it difficult to find deals that cash flow on day one. 

You say focus on the outer skirts of Charlotte. Do you mean still within the city line of Charlotte or surrounding suburbs or both? 

In my time doing research, it seems like most deals near the downtown area of Charlotte are not going to be feasible for cash flow. I found a few opportunities that seem promising in areas like Mount Holly, Oak Forest, Hickory Grove, and other neighborhoods similar distances to downtown Charlotte. I also just started looking at nearby suburbs like Concord and Gastonia where the monthly costs (specifically Principal & Interest, Property taxes, Home insurance) seem to be significantly lower. However, I am just not as familiar with the rental markets there yet. 

In terms of financing, my plan was to get a conventional loan with 20% down since it seems the simplest option with better rate potential for my first investment property. 

Hey Angie, 

Thanks for the response! 

Cash flow is definitely more important to me. I consider appreciation almost as an added benefit, it would be nice if my rents and cash flew grew over time. 

Based on what I've read on here and online, it seems like Charlotte has some low inventory and may be more geared towards appreciation strategies but I am not certain. As I mentioned, I've identified a few zip codes where there is the most activity in the past year and think I have found the nicer areas where there should be higher rents in theory. However, it would be helpful to narrow a little more from there. I am happy to go into more detail if needed. 

Hi everyone,

I am in the process of digging into the Charlotte, NC region for a buy and hold investment property, and I'm looking for someone to help point me in the right direction.

For some context, I will likely be pursuing SFH in the 200-350K range looking for primarily cash flow potential with hopefully rent growth over time and then appreciation as a secondary consideration. Using list source, I have identified zip codes with the highest amount of activity in the past year. However, many of these are not in the "better" neighborhoods of Charlotte and I'm able to find some (albeit only a few) in those neighborhoods that are in my expected price range. Obviously, some deals appear to better than others.

How should I think about balancing the high activity areas vs better neighborhoods? Should I just focus more on the individual deals rather than being in the best area?

Hi everyone, 

I am in the process of digging into the Charlotte, NC region for a buy and hold investment property, and I'm looking for someone to help point me in the right direction. 

For some context, I will likely be pursuing SFH in the 200-350K range looking for primarily cash flow potential with hopefully rent growth over time and then appreciation as a secondary consideration. Using list source, I have identified zip codes with the highest amount of activity in the past year. However, many of these are not in the "better" neighborhoods of Charlotte and I'm able to find some (albeit only a few) in those neighborhoods that are in my expected price range. Obviously, some deals appear to better than others.

How should I think about balancing the high activity areas vs better neighborhoods? Should I just focus more on the individual deals rather than being in the best area?