All Forum Posts by: Mark Grozen-Smith

@Andrew Syrios Great article. It really seems pivotal to have a solid core team to work with. Not surprising! But great to know how important that really is

@Charlie Brown Thanks so much! I joined all of those and I'll show up at an event soon. Can't make it on Thursday, but next month's meeting hopefully!

@Kevin Kite, I think you're making sense, so it's a trade off really. I'm only 23, so building wealth in (hopefully appreciating) equity isn't a bad play. 

Thanks for your input. You are exactly who I need to learn from! This platform is really great.

Haha just noticed you’re both from LA! You’re probably experts in out-of-town investing!

@Ali Boone (can you really not tag from mobile?). What do you interpret as cash flow? Is there really a challenge in finding positive cash flow at all? Or are you thinking above a certain threshold? Same question to you Jason! Appreciate your support folks :)

@Steve Kontos That's a really good idea. Finding someone in person I can learn from would definitely be good. I'll try to find a REIA around here I guess!

@Ali Boone I haven't gotten deep enough into the numbers to see a lack of cash flow. That's not great news...but I guess I'll look at it and look around! If I can't find anything reliably in the black, I'll have to look elsewhere. 

Thank you both for your suggestions!

@Andrew Johnson This is definitely what I intend to do. Visiting before buying at least for my first few properties, hiring PM, and checking in for myself every 6-12 months! 

Your mention of the property taxes and "hot market for hot market swap" is a good point.... I guess the hot market  feels like security that the market won't fall out from under me, Austin will always have pretty high demand. And the lower price point means I can afford 20% this year.

I'm definitely looking for cash flow - modest flow is fine, just not losses - and mortgage pay down. I don't wanna get into appreciation because that feels like a good way for me to lose my shirt! There's enough bitcoin to go around if I want to speculate.

@Jennifer Slaughter Definitely good advice. Getting a good team together is common theme I'm seeing in my research haha. 

I live around Noe Valley but work down in South Bay (I said I work in tech right? haha). Love this area, but don't love the prices as you can expect!

Thanks Tom & Caleb! Love the support!

Hi! 

I'm pretty new here and just getting into the industry. After listening to dozens of hours of the podcast and reading a couple books, I think it's time for me to get to work! 

While keeping my day job, I'm aiming to get a side business going with a couple multifamily properties, ideally all in the same area. The challenge is, I live in San Francisco and, while I have a good amount saved up, it doesn't seem very feasible to get great numbers out of this area. 

At this point, I'm looking in Austin Texas because I have a friend from there who knows the area pretty well. It seems to be a rising city that's still in my price range. But I wanted to post here and ask what people's thoughts are on this plan. I'm starting research now, I intend to visit so I can get some boots on the ground experience with the neighborhoods, and then I want to start getting to know an agent or two so I can get a market ally and an inflow of deals.

What are the major challenges I'm signing up for by starting with out-of-state investing? Does anyone have strong opinions on any parts of Austin, particularly with respect to multifamilies? What would you say are my first steps to getting more ready for investing here?

Thanks! Happy Monday,

Mark