All Forum Posts by: Lisa Talbot

I am interested in CASH FLOW, I can travel, and I plan on building a great team once I choose the city I will buy in. I will most definitely be traveling before purchasing for discovery, then to see properties, and then to find my team and than periodically to visit my property and check in. I am a Property Manager in Los Angeles, so I know what it takes to care for a building. I have owned an SFH with a partner I rented in WA before and tried to manage it from here and made loads of mistakes, so I learned a lot. I will not make the same mistakes, though I am sure I will make others. But I know a team, including an awesome property manager, is a must.

I plan on buying and holding. Why would I sell my cash-flowing property? I understand that other people have their own philosophy, but I want to buy and hold. I do not want SFHs because they are only SFHs, and so if it is vacant, then you are stuck with the entire mortgage, whereas a multifamily, if you have a vacancy, at least it is only a portion, and it's easier to budget in vacancy rate. If I sold any of my property, it would only be to buy a bigger building with more units.  I plan to buy a few, ideally 4-unit properties and then buy an 8-unit or larger property.  My goal is financial freedom, so passive income is what I am looking for. I am not looking to flip SFHs constantly; I want enough multifamily properties to give me the income I need to live the way I want.  

WOW thank you all for your thoughts! 

Hi there, I am new to the Bigger Pockets forums and want to buy my first Investment property, ideally a 2-4 multifamily property I would buy and hold with long term renters.  I live in Los Angeles so I wont be buying here as finding a cash flowing property here is almost impossible and I am a property manager and I already live rent free.  So I want to buy in another city and state where I can put 20% down.  From all the articles I have been reading there are several possible cities that could be good areas to look in and since I would be an out of state investor and I don't know these places well it feels overwhelming to know which one to pick.  Detroit, Cincinnati, Huston, Springfield, Philadelphia, maybe even Saint Luis.  Oh my!  I would love to hear from anyone and everyone who has invested in any of these areas and what they have to say.  If I could narrow it down to one or two of these places that would help me to decide and then I can go to them and really start looking! Thank you!  

I am a property manager in Los Angeles and have been one for 15 years.  I have remodeled many apartments and have had city inspections inspect my units often.  The only time a city inspector has even had an issue with the lack of a remodeled unit not having a permit is if you have a new water heater or a washer and dryer that is not permitted or there is something that is not to code. It does not sound like you are doing anything like that, AND it also sounds like you are doing this in a single-family home, making it even less important to get a permit.  Good luck with your remodel, sounds like fun!