What are contracted rents and comparable rents nearby?

Hi Geoff, We invest in nearby Chester county, but live in the DC metro/VA.

i live in brooklyn ny and i am extremeley limited to capitol. i will more easily be able to do smaller cheaper deals somewhere nearby like trenton nj or newark nj. i know people are flipping down there but i am not familiar with the areas at all. i have alot of experiance working in the philadelphia market and dont mind to commute but i know down the road i will become to busy to do it on a regular basis and will lose focus. i like to be very hands on and would not consider doing investments somewhere im not able to drive to on any given day just to check on things.thanks for all your input.

I've been following your screening guide and it's helped immensely, especially with weeding out people just kicking the tires and wasting your time.I've put in my ad that there is a small application fee and that usually weeds out people that I wouldnt want in there anyway and also communicates that there are only good tenants in the nearby units.

@Matt DevincenzoI like your idea of moving to a nearby area that has yet to be positively affected by an upturn in the RE cycle.

I have a few multi-family properties and SFHs in Tampa Heights and the near-by neighborhoods, and I'd love to hear about where you end up buying.

Ideally I will find a mentor that lives nearby from whom I can learn as much as possible.I believe that my main strategy will be buy and hold but I also love the idea of renovating anything from a house to an apartment complex.

Ive heard its a little better in Colorado Springs, but I ve also heard there are some great opportunities nearby in fountain and in pueblo.

@Christopher Bowen Welcome to the single best real estate tool I have ever found.Gig Harbor may be hard to find good cap rates in but nearby places such as Tacoma offer some nice cash flowing multiplexes.

This could require a fairly significant amount of personal funds if your market is higher priced, such as mine in Northern Virginia.As an alternative I plan to explore local/regional bank offerings, target lower cost markets nearby, or simply wholesale initial leads to build working capital.