All Forum Posts by: Ben Jacobs

Hey Ben, totally can relate with you being from an expensive real estate market - I moved to Columbus a few years ago (from Portland, Oregon which was super expensive) to become a full time real estate investor, and ever since, I've completed quite a lot of BRRRRs, flips, and own a successful rental portfolio here in Columbus Ohio. There's so many catalysts for population and job growth (Intel, Honda, Amazon, Nationwide Hospital, etc). I can definitely tell you there's still a lot of positive cash flowing and 1% rule deals and you get amazing appreciation. As an investor and agent here in Columbus Ohio, if you have any questions or want to connect, definitely reach out!

It may be hard from some people to give specific advice without knowing more about your situation. Check out the different strategies in real estate. There are MANY of them but the key is to find what strategy fits your lifestyle, goals, and path you want to go down. Once you have an idea of the strategy you'd like to pursue, deep dive into that and talk to people in that space. Getting started can be overwhelming for sure. So try not to get suckered into the shiny object syndrome (speaking from experience here, haha) 

Based on the information you provided, you could begin looking out of state. I am in Hawaii as well and it really is a tough market for cash flow. But there's opportunity to flip if you partner with someone locally. You can attend meetups to meet people who are in that space. Check out the meetups portion of the forums and search Hawaii. There's a couple this month and they're free to attend.

If you begin looking out of state, I'd still recommend partnering with someone you build a genuine relationship with and trust. It seems you have capital and there are plenty of investors who have the resources and could use a private lender or an equity partner. But it's super important to build a relationship with them before investing. Trust is the most important factor in my opinion. 

@Ben Jacobs Welcome to bigger pockets!

What are your investment goals? Its tough to chart course if you don't know where you're going. 

Are you set on the Hawaii market? If cash flow is your goal, I'd recommend looking outside of Hawaii like @Samuel Lynch said. Many people will tell you investing out of state isn't a good idea, but I've been able to build most of my real estate portfolio out of state, so I can assure you its possible. It just requires a different skillset than investing where you live, and most people just decide its too difficult and quit before they even try. 

You could also consider syndications if you want to be completely passive. It all depends on your goals, how much time you have to dedicate to real estate every day/week, your risk tolerance, etc. I recently wrote a small ebook titled "6 reasons to invest out of state". I'm happy to send it your way.

Good luck and let us know what you decide to do!