@Danny Lambert good evening Danny - for sure. There is so much to share so ill keep this simple.
Ive been investing for sometime outside of this area so I knew what I essentially wanted: multi family of some sort which I could live in and rent the rest to offset majority of cost. The first year of search (2018) all I could find where single fams with a remodeled basement and will all the numbers didn't really make me feel comfortable with purchase (such an expensive market).
With my current real estate agent and my driving local neighborhoods I stumbled across a family in NE that was looking to sell their 3 family home and had a realtor that had not posted it on the MLS - luckily my RE agent knew their agent and facilitated the deal before posting on MLS and I purchased at a low rate (considering).
With all that being said, the area is expensive, you have to know what you want : meaning : property type,location( so KEY), price range, condition and profitability. Some of these you may already know but if so double and triple check to be sure thats what you want.
Big thing out here is area know what your buying and average rents because you can buy in one AREA of say NE and the highest rent you can obtain is $1500 but 6 blocks away in NE you can charge $500-$600 more - so location is key. Secondly having a RE agent that knew people helped tremendously I'm not from the area so having her helped out. Thirdly know who you want to rent to - families, professionals, state workers, males females ... all these things matter - this is a huge investment so the details matter. Fourthly, have a contractor you can trust i used 5 contractors to get simple things done and i would not recommend any to you not worth the headache ( try here if you need one). Lastly even after reading all this if you've done your research and the numbers look good do it homes around here don't stay on the market long man!
I hope this helps.
-Darren
