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All Forum Posts by: John Thomas

John Thomas has started 1 posts and replied 3 times.

So in your experience, it sounds like you’ve had more success investing in a more expensive market and building equity as opposed to cheaper, lower quality properties in places like the Midwest?


Quote from @Becca F.:
Quote from @Marcus Auerbach:

Okay, I don't know if everyone posting here has been living under a rock, you are setting a young guy up for failure by supporting absolutely unrealistic expectations.

In order to clear $120k of net income in the Midwest you need a RE portfolio to the tune of 8 million. At current rates probably 30% down to get to a 1.2 DSCR.

As an OOS investor, you have a huge disadvantage compared to local investors and you are cost burdened by paying a PM. You are also likely to pay more for contractors and get a lower-quality install because you are not there to supervise. 

Thank you for saying this! $8 million in Midwest RE portfolio and putting over 30% down - that sounds depressing. It's a good thing I didn't sell off my Bay Area SFH (with lots of equity) to buy OOS. I listened to the "cash flow, go buy in the Midwest". I'm losing money every month on 2 properties. I posted this on another thread but I'm honestly getting better returns (IRR and CoC) on a HYSA than Indy Class C house #2 projected out 15 years on my calculations. I get mixed feedback from Indianapolis people - one agent says typically 3% appreciation (with 2019 to 2022 being outliers), other people say it's higher and with gentrification those areas will go up in value. Maybe I should have started a business instead.

Adding to my original comment, the people I know who left their W2 started way back in 1998 (that California appreciation) or in 2014 (bought the right properties and benefitted from the run up in values from 2019 to 2022) or started in 2015 by house hacking in CA and with their high W2 incomes ($200,000 to $400,000) leveraged and scaled to 2023 and are running RE businesses. They're not doing this in 2024 but the social media gurus are saying people can.

If the OP is still here, it'd be great to hear from him. 



Hello! I am still here. I appreciate your responses and candid advice. 

I am not looking for a ‘fad’ or something that is cool and easy. I’m committed to putting in the time to REI and do what it takes to get me to my goals. I just don’t have the time to spend my day logged into this site and respond to every comment that pops up, Hope you can understand that.


Quote from @Mark Cruse:

@Becca F.

@Account Closed

Iḿ glad you all really have steam left to engage these one and done posters, but I have little desire. I´ve had too many instances of wasting my valuable time with people who are not serious. I still respond to stuff if they stick around for a while and at least show they care a little, however, I have halted a lot of the phone calls. No more meet ups. As stated before awhile back, I had people hound me for days to do a zoom and they didnt show the hell up.  Many of these people move from fad to fad or whatever they think sounds  cool and easy. Coming here, having people take time to provide expert advice and not having the decency to bring their azz back to even read it is insulting to me. 

However, Iḿ glad you still have the stomach for it because  maybe small in numbers, I know a handful could be genuine. 


Hi BP Community. I'm 25yo and motivated to grow my rental portfolio so I can replace my W2 income. I make $120k - $150k per year and am based on the west coast. I am looking to invest out-of-state as a long-term, buy and hold investor in the lower cost, higher cash-flowing markets of the midwest and southeastern US.

I'm looking for some beginner advice on how I can get started growing my team and buying my first few properties. Ideally, I'd love to work with someone who started in the last several years and have scaled their portfolio to 10-20+ units.

Given experience, feel free to share where you would you start if you were in my shoes and if you're willing to have a further conversation to help me get going!