All Forum Posts by: Bryant Troupe

When I started evaluating out-of-state places to invest, a reviewed a lot of different factors.  We knew our first investment was going to be a learning experience as we had to do everything from the ground up such as build a team and learn how to manage the team remotely.  It was also quite a jump to buy a property that we had never seen.  But we had gone through many of the experiences in person.  So we set a short-term goal to learn a ton and not lose money (basically the goal was to learn for free).  That meant that the property had to cash flow long-term.  So I think our biggest factor was finding an area where the 1% rule possible.  I also reviewed info about states that were landlord-friendly.  Coming from California, that's usually not a hard thing to do.  So that I started crunching numbers and reading posts on BP & other forums.  Overall, the mid-west tends to be a place where you can cash flow (as compared to the coasts).  Indiana kept coming up on the radar.  Then we also determined that the prices were at a level we felt comfortable learning the process.

As we look for our second property, we are not only looking in Indiana but several other markets.  With the current environment, it pretty much seems to be tough anywhere to find deals.  We are actively looking in Indiana.  We are also researching other markets in Tennessee, Arizona, Idaho, Ohio, & Florida.

Yes.  It's extremely difficult, if not impossible to cash flow in many parts of California on 1 - 4 unit properties.  But if you are going to live in California and it's feasible for your lifestyle, house hacking for your personal residence can significantly decrease your living expenses.  Depending on how long you house hack, eventually it can cover your housing expenses.  Of course, you can then use the savings to invest in out-of-state properties.

We are BRRRR investors and have completed everything but the Repeat. We are a year into our first property in Indiana and are actively looking for our second property in Indiana or a few other markets. If you haven't read or listened to them yet, I'd highly recommend Brandon Turner's Rental Property Investing, and David Green's Buy, Rehab, Rent, Frefinance, Repeat and Long-Distance Real Estate Investing.  These were the 3 real estate books that brought it together and helped me finalize my strategy.  I'm actually listening to them again right now as a refresher.

Hopefully, you find this helpful.  Don't hesitate to reach out if you want to know more.  It's still early our investing career but I'm slowly making progress while running my business that is not related to real estate.

Hi Caleb,

Welcome to BP.  Do you own your own property now?  If not, I would second the idea of trying to house hack.  I grew up and live in the L.A. area and it's a tough market for new home buyers unless you've got a lot of money.  My first property was a townhouse in Hawthorne, which at the time I unknowingly house hacked.  I bought a 3 BR and rented out 2 of the rooms to roommates.  If I only knew then what I know now.

Try to learn as much as you can while simultaneously taking small actions toward your goal.

We primarily BRRRR investor who purchased our first property last year. We are hoping to add 2 - 3 this year. I need to get all my financial data into QuickBooks and was wondering if anyone could offer advice on the required chart of accounts. The default real estate business chart of accounts from QuickBooks didn't have the accounts I'd like to see. I'm planning to outsource the bookkeeping once the QB file is setup. I'll also have my accountant review the final chart but looking for investor experience on high-level reporting that they get from QuickBooks.

Here's my preliminary chart of accounts.

Thanks in advance for your ideas and suggestions.

Everyone's got to figure out what works best for them.  Having 2 additional partners makes it an even more difficult decision.  I'd like to recommend either reading or listening to David Greene's book on Long-Distance Real Estate Investing.  After reading that book along with the BRRRR book, my wife and I decided to use the BRRRR strategy out of state. The fact that we are in California also made it much easier. Whether you invest locally or out-of-state, you will have to learn a ton of new skills. We are new to our current strategy (we bought our first property in March) but I've employed unknowing applied a lot of investor strategies dating back to my first home purchase in the late 90's. I rented out rooms in my first property (House Hack). When I upgraded to a bigger home, I continued to rent rooms. Then we bought a new primary residence and rented our original house. We moved about 50 miles away and self-managed. After reading those books Here are some of my thoughts/suggestions:

1. Make sure you and your partners are on the same page and have the same long-term goals.
2. If you think of investing as a business, you are the owner, not the person doing all the work so you can do it from anywhere.  Now if you are going to make the business your day job, then it makes sense that you do it locally.  But if you are going to own a business, you can manage a business from anywhere.
3. Our first priority was putting together a team.  We started by finding a property manager / realtor.  We chose a property manager that also had local contacts but we also spoke to multiple people for quotes, etc.  It was important that we had a good inspector that took pictures.  We also spoke to multiple contractors, etc.  Each person we put on our team could create a check & balance system for other team members.
4. I want my team members to be specialists.
5. Once you pick a plan, be thoughtful about it and don't let naysayers bring you down.  Most people will give you their 2 cents without any understanding of the plan.  We are currently looking for our 2nd property and it's amazing how many people think what we are doing isn't possible.  Yet we did it once so we can do it again.  It's just hard work and you have to focus on it.

So your first step is working out your goals with your partners.  That will help you figure out whether it makes sense to invest locally or remotely.  Affordability is another factor.

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you so much for the recommendation.  I've reached out and spoken to Dino already.  First impressions are all really good.

How long have you been investing in the Tucson market?  We are considering investing there.  I actually went to U of A but it's been a long time.  I'm intrigued by the opportunities there.  We were there about 2 years ago and I was blown away by the growth and changes.

I'm looking for recommendations for property managers in Tucson, AZ.

Also, any referrals or recommendations for any of the following professionals would be appreciated.

1. Property Inspector
2. Real Estate Attorney
3. General Contractor

I will be investing from California so they have to be proficient at communicating electronically and using technology.

Finally, I welcome to connect with anyone looking to partner with investors in the area.  Thanks.

@Maurice Blackledge

Congratulations and thank you for sharing the start of your journey. Ás someone that is getting started, success stories are always motivating. So what is your next step. Have you started searching for your next deal?

Thanks for sharing your experience.  This is my first visit to the forums and it is helpful to hear the stories of other investors.