Investing out of your area

[pdxer]

For those who have gone out of state/home area to invest, what lessons have you learned?

How to find good prop. management, realtors, rents, other numbers, locations with good upside, etc...

Thanks,Bob

[Garfield27]

I have gone out of state a couple of times.  Most of the data you need is available online on Realtor.com, local MLS or local newspapers.

Information regarding upside is also available in different articles online(CNN.com, Wall street Journal).  If you ask realtors they will usually tell you that there is a great upside in their market.  You want your research to be independent and once you work the numbers then talk to realtors.  

To find an agent I usually call a number of listing agents and ask them questions about their listings and general market questions.  If you call 10 agents you will be able to identify who might be nicer to work with and who knows more than others.  Take notes of each conversation and then select the best one or two.  
 
Ask realtors to advise a property manager. Sometimes they can help and sometimes they can't.

Hope this helps.

[wallacehobbs]

For those who have gone out of state/home area to invest, what lessons have you learned?

How to find good prop. management, realtors, rents, other numbers, locations with good upside, etc...

Thanks,Bob

Bob,

Good to meet you.  I am a fairly new investor and to be honest all of my properties have been bought out of state.  I live in the Philadelphia area and prices are high in the suburbs, so I have bought in other states.

Most of my properties have been without seeing the property.

One big thing I learned for myself was to not buy a Fixer upper 400 miles away from your primary residence and try to manage a contractor over the phone. It better if you can supervise or do it yourslef.

So, the next two I bought were only a few years old, and I called around to the area Real Estate Agents and ask who they would have manage thier properties and I called and interviewed them and ask for a few owners that they manage properties for for their feedback and I picked the best one.

My next two properties, were in NC and I chose pre-construction New builds and I am waiting on one to close now.  I have a trusted property manager that is going to rent them and manage them for me.

I have another beautiful home I am buying from a franchise called the Real Market Experts.  I finally got smart since this one is in Atlanta and I am in Philadelphia.  They found a New property for me, with a $31K equity position, $196 a month cash flow  (5% down) thru in some other great things,  Seller paying some of cost, HOA fees, shopping spree etc and they are setting up a two year lease option in April for me and will manage the property.  It took me almost 6 months of trying different things for myself to get something that works for me and my goals.

The main reason I went out of state is because I did not want to miss out on appreciation and cash flow in other areas.  So far I recommend doing it.  Make sure you have the right people in place to look after you interest like I do and you will do fine.

Let me know how it works out for you and good luck.

[Grant-RTG]

Wallace,

Nice work! I still think it would be tough working out of state, but you gotta find the properties.  

[SD Newbie]

I think going out of state is a wonderful idea and I have to agree with Wallace...  I am in the process of buying in Detroit and I am in California...  Everyone knows CA doesn't have, if any, very much cashflow, but Detroit does.. so i would rather gain slow appreciation and cashflow then appreciation that is starting to peak and NO cashflow...  

Currently I have my PM going out and viewing the property and he will give me his opinion on what he sees on Monday...

But I say go for it, just do your due diligence...

[niravmd]

if you can use a phone and have internet you can invest
out of state!!

research the macro and micro economic factors before you
invest. not after u buy something thats 30 miles from
the closest gas station and grocery store and has been
vacant for 9 months.

buy pre-construction from a reputable builder. make sure
you have an agent who knows what they're doing and is
ethical and sharp.
get good property management. or do lease-options and
have ur agent show the house. make ur tenant-buyers responsible for ALL maintenance and pay u a non-refundable
5k deposit like i do.

if you're willing to train ur agent, it can be a piece of cake.