All Forum Posts by: MarieChele Porter

@Tom S. Ok that makes sense it seems like I kind of hear mixed and was curious if there was a consensus... Do you invest in Vermont?

@Lionel Church

No I have a duplex in Ohio I was asking to see if there was any consensus bc I hear investors saying different things and was curious if it can be a negotiation strategy for 2-4 units if rents are below market... I'm looking to buy using an FHA in Fresno however I'm kind of stuck here until I get my job transferred... Bc of the higher prices in California as a whole I want to find a better out of state market that still has cash flow with the potential for appreciation...

@Lionel Church what cities/states are looking in ??

Hey there,

So you always hear about how multi-family properties are valued by their income. My question is, is this only for commercial units five units and up or does this include 2-4 units as well? Should I look at comps for 2-4 unit apartments or should I be valuing it by the rents that it is currently receiving?

Thank you,

MarieChele

I'm with you here! It is overwhelming if you're looking at a market outside of where you live... I would eventually like to move to Fresno to house hack from SF but in the mean time I'm also trying to find areas out of state that are good markets... I started making a spreadsheet to narrow it down... Now after including 77 cities all around the US I realize I should have did it with metro areas... Doh... I'm actually okay because it's giving me a lot of info on individual cities and I will go back and look at the metro areas for the bigger picture... Anyways I'm finding that taking my time and doing a little bit a day is really helping... To not be so overwhelmed narrow it down to a few states, metros, then cities that way your looking at a smaller portion instead of the US as a whole... Also see what fits your budget thats a big help in narrowing down some states and cities...

I have an out of state investment currently in Garfield Heights, Ohio. I would like to do a house hack in Freno, CA once my job transfer goes through, but want to look for growth markets for buy and hold that have good appreciation potential.

Mid-west is good for cash flow but I've noticed that the growth potential is not there. I pretty much picked that market bc that's what I could afford then.

So far to narrow down the list I've started a couple of Excel sheets gathering census information. 1 is to ween out the states/cities with declining populations. The other is to narrow down to cities that have growing populations with over 500k and 1 million population that the 1% rule is possible.

What other things do you or should I look for in picking an out of area investment? I don't have family outside of California so it's pretty much asset based..

@April Banda hello, there are some that I have been able to do zoom or fb lives with. Specifically Stratton Brown who has a wholesale meetup another is Jason Pritchard who runs a pretty big meetup pre covid... I'd find them on meetup or Facebook to get into their events...

@Dan Heuschele thanks for your input you've made good points not only to look at right now but 5-10 years as well! That is something I think about but I guess I am always stuck on the cash flow right now type of numbers. But when I look and these same places at the current rents were 80k and now selling for 300k+ it does make sense!

@Dan Heuschele I understand your point of not using percentages for maintenance/capex but I'm wondering with the amounts you allocate and at the current rents (a lot of places I see still renting $500-$700) are you able to find deals that work out and cash flow in Fresno? I search the MLS and look for 2-4 units which are typically not in the best areas and I'm trying to avoid that... The ones that are in better area seem extremely over priced hopefully pulling in $800-$1000 per unit but selling for $350-420k.

@Amy Mc I completely understand and have a somewhat similar situation due to work. I work in SF but want to move here but have to wait for a transfer which is literally taking years! Anyways just trying to weigh all options and still come here on my off days to get more familiar with the neighborhoods!