Out Of State Investing
hi guys.
i'll live in beautiful san diego and love it. unfortunately a 3plex costs 750K here so i'm looking to invest out of state. somewhere where i can get a 4 plex for 200K would be nice!
anyway my question is how do i select such an area. do i need to fly out and see every property
that looks good or can i trust the judgement of
the appraiser, inspector, realtor?
also the biggest concern will be hiring a property management company. would i need to check up on them and see if they're doing a good job. do i even need to see if
they're stealing rents(just saw an ad on a 16 plex that claimed over 20K in rents were stolen last year)
has anyone done this. i'd like to hear your success or horror stories.
philadelphia is always doable for that amount. and what a coincidence, i happen to live there (in Philly)! hehehe ...
Investing from afar
hi--
get this,,, living in HK, had friend look for me in Portland area, flew in check out homes, in 3 days put offer in, accepted, left portland to Bay Area, signed paper morning before I left for HK. I did all this within 2 weeks.
Point-- have contacts in your area, get financing lined up, have your contact refer professional help to you, like realtor, property management.
ie 2-- i bought home 11/4/03,, have bro find home in area, have a buyer agent working for me, put in offer, give power of attorney to bro for signing, have bro get people to fix and rent. pay bro fee for his efforts,, I'm sitting in China.
You can buy in area where others have expertise.
good luck to you.
garcia
I agree with Garcia that the only way that I would rent out of state/area is if I had a slew of friends/family/contacts in the area.
Property Management companies are usually good, but remember the saying "Trust but Verify" should be the rule of the day.
While I agree with what has been said about knowing people in the area, you can develop those relationships with the intent of investing there. Start calling some agents and property managers. A few calls (and seeing if they return calls) should give you a feel for which people you want to work with.
Personally, I would then visit the area in question, and visit some listings that the agents sent you. The best way to know if you are working with the right people is to meet with them. You gut will tell you a lot.
The TCI search features may be useful in identifying areas with attractive properties. You can specify geographic regions/cap rates/prices/type of property etc.
You could also look at partnering with someone who invests in an area of interest to you until you get used to the region. I can think of one person that might be interested