All Forum Posts by: Gregorio Villar

Hey @Gregorio Villar, welcome to BiggerPockets and congratulations on doing the work!

We invest out-of-state in St. Louis. I am happy to share any and all knowledge, resources, tips, tricks, mistakes, successes. We spend a few hours each week giving back to the community.

I also wrote a post on this very question if you are interested in reading it. Please do not hesitate to reach out, connect, and DM me.

Happy share my thoughts on market selection but a lot of it is also personal to you and what you are looking for. You need to consider investment strategy (appreciation, cash flow, hybrid), property type, tenant type, weather, major sports teams, population trends, employer diversity, etc.

Hello Gregorio! 

Awesome you're interested in moving forward. In general, it seems to me the best thing to do for many new investors is to house hack. If you can find something near where you currently live and use an owner-occupied FHA loan to put down 3.5% you'd be able to get into a home more quickly than trying to save 20% and investing in out of state. If you have a decent job, and it provides you flexibility, perhaps you could move to another more affordable market and obtain a duplex, triplex, or 4 plex and live in one of the units while renting the others out? If you're willing to sacrifice a bit of privacy you could also look into renting out your single-family home by the room to maximize cash flow. In general, look for markets that people are moving too, the economy and population are growing, and have favorable climate and desirability and start researching each market you find. Also, might be a good idea to actually visit the markets you're interested in. Good luck!

 I'd definitely agree with this - its best to both jump in and not spend too much time hesitating and to not have too high of expectations of hitting a "home run" on your first deal (rather look at it as a learning curve).  Even though other markets may be better, the experience you gain if you have boots on the ground in your local market is a huge plus

Hi! Welcome to Bigger Pockets. If you have any questions about the DFW market, I can answer. Here's a link to a helpful article regarding purchasing in DFW is 2022. https://learn.roofstock.com/bl...

I would start by looking at your local market. If you are not too into statistics, find a realtor that posts market updates/research on your local market. After looking at the different areas of your market you can put together a pretty good idea of if your market is good to invest in. 

Other than localized factors there are things that are more national/federal like rates/broad price reduction.

Things like # of homes sold, on market, expired, amount of homes being bought as investments, rental rates, vacancy rates, apprecation, etc.. will help identify a good market.

Welcome to Biggerpockets!

The first thing you should look for is a state with fair laws. Then look for markets that are growing. Then see if the sales prices and rent rates are conducive to cash-flowing properties. Then look for areas with strong schools. Then narrow it down from there.

You should buy "Long-Distance Real Estate Investing" by David Greene, available in the Biggerpockets bookstore. He explains how to find markets.

 Loaded question. It depends on many factors, how much money you have, you looking for cashflow or appreciation, do you have a team in place.  Money can be made everywhere. Do you want to go where everyone is or build a niche somewhere else?