All Forum Posts by: Savannah Walbert

Quote from @Savannah Walbert:

Quote from @Gary Mascitis:

Hi @Savannah Walbert

Congrats on making the decision to start! In the current state of the market, it is very hard to find great investment opportunities in most areas in California. California also has more favorable laws towards the tenant rather than the landlord bringing up even more headaches. Have you looked into commercial DSCR or Fix and Flip loans? These loans are focused on your credit score, lease vs principal interest, taxes, and insurance, and liquidity position for qualification and do not require tax returns or W2's. This may be the best option for your situation as it would not limit the leverage or terms you would qualify for with your 1099 income. In regards to areas to invest, everyone above me gave great recommendations for markets to invest in. Another point I would add is to look at areas where you have interest in visiting and do your due diligence on the market. If the market checks all your boxes, it could be the best case scenario. Lastly, I am a direct lender on the products I mentioned above and would be more than happy to discuss further over DM if you're interested!

Best of luck,

Hello @Gary Mascitis! Thanks so much for the thoughtful response. We have spoken with a couple mortgage brokers briefly about some of our different options for financing, but haven’t yet fully dived into it. These recommendations are great.

As for choosing a market we have interest in visiting that is also something we are hoping to be able to accomplish, we have a work opportunity that would put us in Tampa Florida about 7-10 days per month, so we are looking there and at the surrounding area to see if there’s anything that could work. Hoping to find a market with solid appreciation over the next 10-20 years!

Hi @Savannah Walbert,

I really like FL as a growth market. There's a lot of reasons to. Some of those reasons are: Continued consistent population growth, which translates into a large amount of wealth moving in, the still relatively affordable median home price, high job migration, no state income tax, relatively reasonable property taxes, business friendly.

There are also some reasons to be cautious, like increasing insurance costs, threat of weather incidences, the cash flow returns have decreased due to the significant increase in prices over the past few years. 

But, still long term prospects are good. I bought a new built rental in Cape Coral a few years ago as a result of an exchange I did. I wish I would've bought more. Anyway, I would buy a newly built property, due to the more updated building codes, which help keep it safer against the hurricanes, etc. Mine had very minimal issues after that recent hurricane hit, since it is newer built and the updated building codes and higher elevations required, etc.

Anyway, I would make sure to go with a reputable and trustworthy operator/builder and focus on turn-key deals, especially for your first step in your RE journey. I am happy to refer you to the investment company and builder I went through, just sent me a DM if interested. They used to be local to LA, but they have been investing out in SW FL for decades, and moved out there permanently a few years ago, due to the CA investing landscape. I have been following them and doing business with them for over 2 decades and trust them implicitly. That is one of the most important points of working with anyone.

Anyway, good luck and let us know what direction you go in.

Hi @Savannah Walbert

Congrats on making the decision to start! In the current state of the market, it is very hard to find great investment opportunities in most areas in California. California also has more favorable laws towards the tenant rather than the landlord bringing up even more headaches. Have you looked into commercial DSCR or Fix and Flip loans? These loans are focused on your credit score, lease vs principal interest, taxes, and insurance, and liquidity position for qualification and do not require tax returns or W2's. This may be the best option for your situation as it would not limit the leverage or terms you would qualify for with your 1099 income. In regards to areas to invest, everyone above me gave great recommendations for markets to invest in. Another point I would add is to look at areas where you have interest in visiting and do your due diligence on the market. If the market checks all your boxes, it could be the best case scenario. Lastly, I am a direct lender on the products I mentioned above and would be more than happy to discuss further over DM if you're interested!

Best of luck,

Quote from @Savannah Walbert:

Hello! My fiancé and I will be beginning our real estate investment journey in 2024 and are looking for any suggestions or pointers as we make some of our initial decisions.

We live in Los Angeles, so it’s probably not surprising that we are leaning toward out-of-state investing. Combined we are making about 250-300k annually pre-tax. However, we aren’t W2 employees, all that income is from 1099 independent contractor work, which of course will limit what financing we can qualify for.

We have 100k+ saved in the bank, but don’t want to plow all of it into our first deal. Ideally we will find a (relatively) low priced market to be able to get into without putting up huge amounts of capital.

If it were possible to invest within driving distance we would love that, since we are a little nervous about dealing with any renovations or even just unexpected maintenance from out-of-state. However, I think the prices in California will cause us to invest out of state and we will just have to learn how to set up the right systems and processes to deal with issues as they come up.

Any pointers on decently priced markets that we could get into in 2024 for a solid first investment property would be much appreciated. We are open to single and multi family, although we’d prefer multi of course. We also aren’t set on doing long, medium, or short term, and would be open to advice about which way will probably be best for our given situation.

Thank you and look forward to starting our investment career!

 Hi Savannah,

Congratulations on starting your real estate investing journey! Out of state investing can be risky, it is always best to work with a trusted team. I recommend building your "Core 4" (Realtor, Property Manager, Lender, Contractor) in the area you are looking to invest. The Midwest has several areas that still cash flow with the current interest rates. I personally invest in Michigan, I own properties in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Metro Detroit. Michigan still has several markets that exceed the 1% rule. I work with several out of state investors, if you would ever like to talk about the market here in Michigan feel free to reach out. It's always nice to chat with fellow investors. 

I could not save you from the Columbus folks time. Listen to people from Cali to go OOS, talk to folks like @Becca F

I would recommend doing your diligence on where & who, and be mindful of folks with something to sell versus something for you to gain. 

Quote from @Savannah Walbert:

Hello! My fiancé and I will be beginning our real estate investment journey in 2024 and are looking for any suggestions or pointers as we make some of our initial decisions.

We live in Los Angeles, so it’s probably not surprising that we are leaning toward out-of-state investing. Combined we are making about 250-300k annually pre-tax. However, we aren’t W2 employees, all that income is from 1099 independent contractor work, which of course will limit what financing we can qualify for.

We have 100k+ saved in the bank, but don’t want to plow all of it into our first deal. Ideally we will find a (relatively) low priced market to be able to get into without putting up huge amounts of capital.

If it were possible to invest within driving distance we would love that, since we are a little nervous about dealing with any renovations or even just unexpected maintenance from out-of-state. However, I think the prices in California will cause us to invest out of state and we will just have to learn how to set up the right systems and processes to deal with issues as they come up.

Any pointers on decently priced markets that we could get into in 2024 for a solid first investment property would be much appreciated. We are open to single and multi family, although we’d prefer multi of course. We also aren’t set on doing long, medium, or short term, and would be open to advice about which way will probably be best for our given situation.

Thank you and look forward to starting our investment career!

Hey Savannah, I also recommend starting locally for your first deal if possible. Getting connected with an investor friendly agent who can source deals both on and off the market will help with finding a deal within your budget. 

If you're interested in out of state markets, there are some great opportunities in the Midwest markets. A lot of markets in the Midwest are landlord friendly and offer a lower barrier-to-entry. Ohio in particular is seeing a lot of growth, especially in Columbus. Many big players in the tech industry and expanding their business in the Columbus market and propelling job growth. 

If you decide to go the out of state route it'll be vital to connect with local professionals in the area and build your core 4: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/core-four-real-estate-tea... 

Quote from @Savannah Walbert:

Hello! My fiancé and I will be beginning our real estate investment journey in 2024 and are looking for any suggestions or pointers as we make some of our initial decisions.

We live in Los Angeles, so it’s probably not surprising that we are leaning toward out-of-state investing. Combined we are making about 250-300k annually pre-tax. However, we aren’t W2 employees, all that income is from 1099 independent contractor work, which of course will limit what financing we can qualify for.

We have 100k+ saved in the bank, but don’t want to plow all of it into our first deal. Ideally we will find a (relatively) low priced market to be able to get into without putting up huge amounts of capital.

If it were possible to invest within driving distance we would love that, since we are a little nervous about dealing with any renovations or even just unexpected maintenance from out-of-state. However, I think the prices in California will cause us to invest out of state and we will just have to learn how to set up the right systems and processes to deal with issues as they come up.

Any pointers on decently priced markets that we could get into in 2024 for a solid first investment property would be much appreciated. We are open to single and multi family, although we’d prefer multi of course. We also aren’t set on doing long, medium, or short term, and would be open to advice about which way will probably be best for our given situation.

Thank you and look forward to starting our investment career!

It does not matter where you start as long as you develop your Core 4. The core 4 is David Greene’s long-distance investing strategy and consists of a realtor, contractor, property manager, and lender. Once you have this team in place, you should be able to invest in any market confidently.

As for picking a specific market - I would go after one with an increasing job and population growth. I invest and work in Columbus, Ohio. I am also looking to invest in Cincinnati and Cleveland.

@Savannah Walbert

i am just going to be blunt, this question comes up on BP over and over for folks in California and other high cost areas.  with prices and interest rates high right now, the market is very unforgiving for first time investors.

the answer to your question is - there are LOTS of decently priced markets that you could get into for a solid first investment.  but if you don't spend some time there setting up your team and getting to know the market, you won't be successful, and you could end up buying something that costs you money instead of makes you money.  it is just not possible to find a property on Zillow that looks nice, buy it, and expect things to go smoothly and for you to cash flow that $300 a month that Brandon Turner promised us back in 2016.

for a really thoughtful thread on this exact topic, see this:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1159104-overl...

i'd also encourage you to house hack in CA.  yes, getting financing might be difficult, and finding a property might be difficult, but successfully investing in a "lower cost" market out of state is also difficult.  it's all difficult.  if it weren't difficult, everyone would do it and everyone would be successful.

hope this gives you some things to think about