All Forum Posts by: Nicole Benton

@Joaquin M Dugan Jr I think the most challenging part for us was making our first offer. It was easy just to keep analyzing deals, but actually pulling the trigger and putting some offers in was a little nerve wracking at first.

@Joaquin M Dugan Jr We found all of our team members through BP and referrals. We originally reached out to investors local to the market we invested in through BP to network and get their take on the market. Multiple of the investors we spoke with referred us to the same lender, who we ended up using. Our lender was an investor himself and referred us to a realtor who specialized in working with investors. And then we found our contractor through BP.

Hi Joaquin, 

My husband and I are new investors and just finished our first out of state fix and flip. We live in the suburbs of Seattle, WA so we wanted to start investing out of state because of the lower price points of some markets. At first we were pretty nervous to take the leap. After lots of research, we started networking with other investors in the area to try and gain more knowledge of the market and best areas to invest. Through networking and referrals, we built our team, which consisted of an agent, lender, and contractor. Each one of our team members were investors themselves so they were able to better understand our mindset and our expectations on the project. They helped guide us throughout the whole process and were absolutely critical to our success. It was quite a learning curve and was challenging at times, but overall we really enjoyed the process and will definitely be doing more out of state investments in the future.

@Kenneth Garrett The top 3 markets we were considering were Kansas City, MO, Indianapolis and Cleveland, OH. We ultimately decided to do our first deal in KC MO because of the connections we had built out there.

Hi Freda, Real estate investing is such a powerful tool, and the sooner you jump in and start learning, the more opportunities you’ll be able to take advantage of. I would highly recommend reading through and being active on the forums here. There are so many investors eager to answer questions and provide advice. 

As far as books go, I would recommend Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki- it completely altered my mindset when it comes to building long-term wealth and financial freedom. I would also recommend How to Invest in Real Estate by Brandon Turner and Josh Dorkin, The Book on Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner, and Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat by David Greene.

I would also highly recommend listening to the BiggerPockets Real Estate Rookie podcast to hear from others who have recently started investing themselves and hearing what steps they’ve taken on their journey so far.

Good luck to you!

Hi Sam, My husband and I just recently completed our first out of state deal. We spent a lot of time researching different markets before deciding which one to jump into. Living in the suburbs of Seattle, we ultimately were searching for a market with a lower price point. When researching, we looked for markets that had consistent population growth, job growth, home value and rent appreciation, and markets that had a variety of job sectors. We found that quite a few of the Midwest markets hit that mark. 

After that, we started reaching out to different investors in those markets trying get further information and build connections. One of the biggest factors when choosing a market is where you can find and build a great team of people to be the boots on the ground for you. As Remington mentioned, the most crucial team members will be an agent to help you find the deals, lender to help finance the deals, contractor if you plan on doing any sort of rehab and a property manager if you’re planning on acquiring rental properties. If you can connect with and build a great team of people, they’ll help you succeed in your out of state investing journey.

This is a wealth of information and an excellent resource, especially for someone new to real estate like myself. Thanks for taking the time to put this together!

Awesome video! Great basic overview and to the point. My husband and I are currently working on a flip, but are going to be restructuring our plan moving forward to focus on small multifamily buy-and-hold properties. I just finished reading The Book on Rental Property Investing, which provides a great foundation for us to dive in and get started.

I would recommend How to Invest in Real Estate by Joshua Dorkin and Brandon Turner. It's a good overview and introduction to basic concepts. https://www.biggerpockets.com/store/how-to-invest-in-real-estate-physical

I would also highly recommend Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat by David Greene. This one is a game-changer and a must read. https://www.biggerpockets.com/store/brrrr-paperback

@Mike D'Arrigo That’s good to hear since that’s the type of market we are wanting to get into. And thanks for the offer! I’ll reach out as questions come up and as we start moving forward on things.