All Forum Posts by: Mason Fiascone

Well actually not every city can offer you cash flow. In theory you should be able to find something anywhere, but in some cities if you do find something that cash flows, you should be very leery about the property itself. Like if anything cash flow in LA here where I live, I'd be extremely skeptical as to why it cash flows. 

As far as analyzing, well... I know on a broad scale what cities typically offer cash flow and which ones don't. Just from being on here and working with OOS properties for quite a few years, but as far as determining if one does or doesn't.... I'd say just generally shopping for properties and seeing if you see any cash flow is a start, but within any market there are so many smaller cities and neighborhoods that it would be hard to know which ones would have the potential or not. If you didn't look in just the right sections, you might not realize there's cash flow there.

For me it's always easier to not reinvent the wheel. I just kind of look around and get a feel for where people are making deals work and where they aren't. If a particular city isn't being mentioned, you can post in the forums and say 'hey, anyone finding cash flow in x city? If so, where?' Something like that. Versus me trying to figure it all out for myself. But I prefer the lazier route typically and don't care much to figure it all out myself. :)

Well kind of an obvious but I don't see it specifically mentioned in your analysis... which of those cities cash flow? You mentioned the price-to-rent ratios and other numbers, but what about the cash flow specifically? Looking at that, assuming you care about cash flow, will automatically shorten your list by half potentially.

Mason,

Your market assessment is exactly what I did before I decided to build my portfolio in Meridian, Idaho 10 years ago. Everything pointed to that market and I’ll continue buy more SFHs there in the coming years. I agree with Jay Hinrichs and Steve Vaughn regarding the value of a good PM, and I attribute much of my success as a RE investor to a great management company that has managed my properties for 12 years and oversee them as if they owned them personally.

I’m also privileged to have an amazing agent who helps me find the right properties that hit the “sweet spot” for what renters (families) are looking for in SFHs. I’m right at $1600/door – 3bdr/2bth. The market is softening a bit and there are some great deals to be had. I’ve seen a half dozen houses come online within the last couple weeks in the low $200s that would be excellent rentals.

I as well as several other BP members who invest in Boise/Meridian are very bullish on that area. Private message me if you’d like the contact info of my agent and PM. By the way, all my investing is done remotely.  I never stepped foot in Meridian for the last two houses I bought.  

Those all sound fine. Access was mentioned as consideration and check rentfaxpro as they somehow rate quality of PMs available as well. They claim some lenders use this, but it is pretty detailed with more good info and applied to your exact address. Good luck! 

Charlotte and Raleigh are both markets I would highly consider. Being local to the market as a beginner is helpful, but not needed. Buy properties in good neighborhoods that only need light renovation to increase rent. Find several Property management companies that you can trust. Most are bad

@Mason Fiascone  Nope, not investing in WA.  Looking at outlying areas as potential options (Spokane, Yakima, etc), but even then it's pretty competitive for deals that make sense.  I'm partnered with two other guys, and we're investing in South Carolina (bought a duplex recently) and potentially in Pennsylvania as more capital and deals become available.  Much like you, I'm evaluating areas for my own investing as well, and most are well outside of WA.

Frankly PM should be your number 1 on your list.. nothing else on your list matters if you have a tenant beat the crap out of your unit. 

The PM can make or break you--being remote, you will basically be at their mercy to deal with problematic tenants, find tenants and keep vacancy low, collect your money, find contractors... in short, every aspect of actually running the business.  If you can't find a good, recommended (and check those references!) PM for an area, that's probably a blocker right there.  And ideally, you have multiple PM options for the area.

As for laws... remember they can change at any time.  With proper tenant screening (going back to a good PM!), you can reduce your risk of getting a "professional tenant" who knows how to abuse the system.  There are certainly no guarantees you won't get a bad tenant, but I wouldn't completely rule out an area because of the current laws.

Definitely all about the PM if out of area.  Unfortunately, PMs are so bad in Wenatchee, the owner/DB of 1 of the 4 largest brokerages here begged me to get licensed as a PM with her firm so she would have someone to recommend her clients to.  Median home prices are also $300k here.

I'd figure out where I was moving to visa vie 'the West coast' and research deep into a tertiary market there.  My 'honey hole' as Jay likes to call it is 30 mins out and requires me to have a good maintenance guy on-site, in country.

check out Wenatchee Washington and up river .. 

also Charleston SC

Indy seems pretty strong at the median price in the area.

I think the Boise area is nice as well.

but its all about PM  and then when you think about it  its all about PM

and having rents at 1000 a month or better