All Forum Posts by: Lauren Reiterman

Hey Lauren,

It really depends on your goals. If you aren't in a rush and want to build wealth slowly I'd say looking to buy in a low/no cash flow market in an A/B area is best.

If you want to build cash flow I'd look to those sorts of markets. That's what I wanted to do, and I wanted to do it as quickly as possible. I built a 12-door portfolio in Detroit in about 2.5 years and it's been phenomenal for me. Most of those are SFH's but two are duplexes. I really don't have many tenant issues.

Happy to talk more about the Detroit market if that's one you're interested in.

A lot depends on the market you are in. A lot of new investors don’t figure this out as it changes strategy a lot. If you are in a cash flow market a larger single property often makes more sense. In a strong appreciation market like we invest in SF Bay Area the more properties the more wealth created through appreciation.

With $100K, you could cover down payment + closing costs for a $450K multifamily property. There's a lot of markets you could get a 2-4 unit with favorable lending terms. That's the direction I'd go. 

@Lauren Reiterman

I'd buy as many SFR below the median price as you can with 20 or 25% down. Major shortage in affordable single family. And market rent will keep going way up due to low inventory of rentals.

@Lauren Reiterman

what markets are 2 hours away?  what markets are 4 hours away?  there is no substitute for being in person / hands on.

I assume like most investors the end goal is to have a few properties, so I'd leverage to a comfortable amount on a few lower-priced properties. As many others stated, you'll get appreciation across all the potential properties instead of just one. As long as you are comfortable with maintenance items and budgeting for capex the more the merrier in my book!

There is a balance.  I wouldn't buy the most expensive home as a rental, but I also wouldn't buy the cheapest home.  If you can get a good multifamily home, you have one building to deal with, but you also have shared walls (though tenant issues shouldn't be your problem). Otherwise, get single family home-but not the cheapest ones-they will look good on paper, but very rarely are in reality and will cost you more.

@Lauren Reiterman

-start local or within driving distance

-house hack if you can

-start with 1 property

-see how it goes

-do not buy a random property 2 thousand miles away that you have to put 25% down on that nets you $14 a month after all expenses just to "get in the game"

From my experience, spreading your risk out in as many ways as you can always pays off. That doesn't just mean buying several properties, but also means spreading your risk across different types of properties (single family, multi family, etc.) and different investment strategies (STR, LTR, flip, etc.). If you over-invest in STRs and people stop traveling, you have a problem. If you over-invest in flips but there's depreciation in your market, you have a problem. There's always balance with spreading out risk and making sure that you can manage your portfolio, but I'd definitely recommend thinking in that mindset.

One multi family property with a sizable down payment will create cash flow. Putting down the minimum on 10 single-family properties will create more wealth. If the market appreciates 10% in 10 years, you just took advantage of that for 10 properties, not one.