All Forum Posts by: Liz Daigle

@Ryan McGlasson Hi there! My first buy and hold ended up being out of state. It was a townhouse so potentially a bit easier. Out of state you will have to calculate in property management costs (probably will still work out better than Sacramento). I didn't have much of an issue with the out of state rental but I did thorough research beforehand. I would find an experienced real estate agent in the markets that you are considering and really pick their brain. The downside to out of state is it is a completely different market so you will have to do a lot of research to find out what is driving supply and demand in both housing and rental markets. I am an agent in Denver but know a lot of agents throughout the country - let me know if I can help find you an agent in a particular market. Good luck!!! 

In Denver the lowest I have seen is 8%, 2% upfront and can go upwards of 14%.

@Solomon Ganz I did pretty much the exact thing three years ago. I was in a lucrative finance job in New Hampshire but realized I wasn't getting much further (and was burnt out). I moved to Denver (hot sellers market) to get into real estate. I knew only my sisters in Denver. I will be honest, it is very hard but if you want it bad enough you will get it. The first 6 months I only made 15k. Three years in is where I am reaping my reward - I now run a mostly referral business and my last two deals were people I met 3 years ago! In real estate you are not on your timetable but your buyer/sellers. Two things I would suggest - 1. focus on building a sphere early on. You have a (dis)advantage in a new community and will need to focus on making friends/acquaintances. These will be your deals in 2-3 years. 2. Capitalize on your sphere NY, if you can get a few referrals a year from NY, that will help you with cash flow. I will end up making close to 12k this year in referrals from NH. Feel free to reach out for help/support. I say do it, either way you are going to have to work hard, might as well do it doing something you enjoy. 

The numbers are so tight in the Denver market right now. I would go off on foot. Find a neighborhood that is turning around and knock on doors. And keep knocking. Or, find an agent that will do it for you. Also, keep meeting people and make sure they know what you are looking for and planning to do. It take a lot of time so don't get discouraged. I have a deal right now that I have been working on for three years. Keep moving forward and something will happen. 

I am a woman landlord and real estate agent. All of these tips are superb and a reminder how "comfortable" I have become showing homes to strangers that my guard has gone down a lot in the past few years. For some reason I have found myself only uncomfortable with potential tenants, maybe it is because it is a different clientele? More often then not when showing to tenants I typically have someone else (a man) with me. I usually stay close to a door and let the potential tenants look around. Good luck!