All Forum Posts by: Mason Fiascone

Improperly uploaded my image in the original post - here is the detailed analysis!

Thanks Scot! I appreciate the tough love. You're right, I have been doing "research" for quite some time. Hindsight 20/20, I should have invested when I was even back in college 3 years ago! The #1 thing holding me back was lack of personal financing, but I know now that I don't need to let that hold me back.

Appreciate the encouragement to by somewhere relatively close. Do you think that's still a good strategy even in the NYC area? I'm sure I could find creative financing, but seems pretty challenging as a first investment when average property price is $300k+ for single family. I also will likely be moving within the next year to the West Coast, so I'm concerned that investing locally won't actually provide the benefit to manage myself.

Am I overthinking it? Feel free to give me some more tough love.

Thank you Paul! Really appreciate the input and something I had not necessarily considered was transportation from where I am to a market to really understand the dynamics I wouldn't otherwise be able to virtually. Super helpful!

Also great input to just focus on one market. I think I need to let go of the fear of choosing the wrong market and get focused and look to find great deals where the numbers work regardless of the market necessarily. Thank you!

Thanks for helping narrow down my next step beyond just "Core 4". That's great. Knowing where to start, with a good realtor, is great for when I start picking up the phone. And will definitely keep that in mind to make sure I continue to look for and find the best people out there - not just settle for the first!

Hey everyone! This is my first post on BP so please go easy on me!

I am new to real estate investing, but have been digesting info for the past 3 years from places like Cash Flow Ninja Podcast, BP Podcast, and BP.com. I've been stagnant in simply learning, not taking action, and that stops now! I'm committed to taking action. At the same time, I'm aware that this is a tough time to get started in the real estate market cycle, so I'm also committed to finding an amazing deal even if it requires a lot of upfront work.

I've targeted buy and hold rental as my #1 strategy and the next step for me is choosing a market.

For more background on myself, I grew up in Seattle, WA and since then have lived in Phoenix AZ, Chicago IL, Steubenville OH, Charlotte NC, and am currently in Montclair NJ (and I'm only 24!). Because I've lived all over, will likely move within the next year, and now live in a high-priced market - NJ / NYC, I am looking to invest out of state for my first investment.

Through research and learning, I compiled a list of criteria for selecting a market, as well as a list of markets, largely based on this article.

Hopefully obvious, all of this data is directional, but I needed criteria to begin, since I can't evaluate every single market out there!

Here were my selection criteria, in rank of importance:

1. Personal Network - do I have any connections already present?
2. Price / Rent Ratio - lower the better
3. Avg Median Income - feeds into #2, not as important on its own
4. Avg Median Price - feeds into #2, not as important on its own
5. Avg Median Rent - feeds into #2, not as important on its own
6. Rent % of Income - rent should be >1/3 of income
7. Sociodemographic Rank - should be high (used this article)
8. Population Growth - should outpace US average (used this site)
9. Jobs Growth - highger the better (used Forbes data: example)
10. Law Favorability - should be landlord-friendly (used Avail: example)
11. State Tax Favorability - should be favorable (used this article)
12. Poverty Level - should be low (used city-data.com)
13. Crime - should be below US average of 290 (used city-data.com)
14. Industries Present - should be diverse (used city-data.com)

Here are the markets I evaluated:

1. Bend, OR
2. Greenville, SC
3. Charlotte, NC
4. Meridian, ID
5. Midland, TX
6. Spartanburg, SC
7. Huntsville, AL
8. Kent, WA

Without any further delay, here is my market analysis laid out with selection criteria and markets:

• Meridian, ID
• Charlotte, NC

and they are mostly green across the board, hitting all selection criteria, at a reasonable purchase price for my first investment at a young age.

Now that I've completed a brief analysis, I'm looking to dive into deal finding and developing my Core 4.

What are your thoughts on my preliminary market analysis?

Are there things I may have missed?

Was this helpful for you to see as a newbie or even as an experienced investor?

-Mason Fiascone

I'm brand new here in the forums and am glad you posted this! I have had the same question for a while now. And great to read everyone's thoughts as well.

I've always been sold by the "free money" with a company match, but I'm always tempted to explore other options still, glad others are thinking through the same questions I am.

It's often frustrating to look at what I have sitting in a 401k and think "I can't do anything with this until way down the road!" Even so, good to be reminded to carry on, take advantage of the company benefits until it can roll into something else I can potentially get into real estate with.

Mason Fiascone