Whether you are a new below market value real estate investor or an experienced hand, a very important part of your investing success is to select the best out of state investment property. For many investors, the best place to invest in below market value property is not where they live.
When many of our investors started buying under market value real estate in San Antonio, they had tried to buy in other cities, but found them too expensive.
They chose San Antonio investment properties for these reasons:
Incredibly low prices: I could buy under market value houses in San Antonio for $25,000, do $10,000 in rehab, and resell with owner financing for $49,900. That’s an amazing return. Even today, with prices higher, I still can make 11% ROI on these under market value houses with a price of $50,000.
Strong economy. Bizjournal.com recently stated that San Antonio had the largest growth in construction employment from 2014 to 2015. This reflects the strong job and population growth that has shown no signs of slowing.
Growing population – Forbes has ranked it as the 9th fastest growing city in the US. This of course means there will be strong demand for houses for sale and houses for rent. From 2011-2012, San Antonio’s population grew almost 2%!
Strong job outlook: Even though there is less growth than previously because of the slump in oil prices, San Antonio is still leading Texas for job growth as of early 2016. The city job growth rate still is a healthy 3.5%. One of the reasons I chose San Antonio as a city to invest in below market value property is that only 2-3% of its job base is involved in energy production.
Here is a fine example of the type of under market value property I buy in San Antonio:
$62,000 cash purchase, $10,000 rehab, 50 DOM, sold for $89,900 owner finance, $937 per month, 12.3% ROI.
This 3 BR 1.5 bath property investment with positive cash flow north of downtown San Antonio TX is in a heavily revitalizing area. It was bought by the investor for $62,000.
It only needed approximately $10,000 of rehab, including new flooring, paint in and out, and minor foundation work.
The total project cost to the investor was $72,000.
Within 50 days of the completion of rehab, it was sold with owner financing with the following terms:
$5000 down
$89,900 final price
10% interest
30 year note
$937/month PITI
Cap rate 12.3%
If you choose San Antonio as your out of state investment property location, you will need to find a good Realtor and/or wholesaler to locate quality properties for you. My advice on that is to find a good wholesaler who has been working in the city for more than 10 years and has done several hundred transactions.
The wholesaler will make a 2-3% profit when he sells the under market value house to you, but the best wholesalers will leave you plenty of meat on the bone to make strong passive income. With a good team in place San Antonio is really the best out of state investment city, in my view.
If you are an investor or possible investor in California, you probably know the answer to that question! Many of my out of state investors in California cannot believe the sky high cost of investment properties in many of the high population areas of California, such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. Great places to live, but for positive cash flow investing? Not so much! California investment property is very expensive.
If you are thinking about buying an out of state investment property for passive income, here is a good simple guide that can help:
How to Select Your Out of State Investing Market for Passive Income
Where you are going to invest in under market value properties depends on your real estate investing goals. Are you a flipper or a buy and hold investor? If you hang around my site long, you’ll learn I retired early with buy and hold investment properties that are owner financed. I’m a big believer in buy and hold long term cash flow – that is how I financially retired at just 28 in San Antonio – one of the best cities to invest in real estate, in my humble opinion.
Anyway, a good buy and hold market for passive income might not be the best flipping market. Here in San Antonio TX, flipping has gotten tough as the economy is booming as of January 2016; it’s hard for flippers to get properties cheap enough to make a good profit. For buy and hold investing though, I still make 10-12% per year, or $500-$700 per month in positive cash flow.
I’m biased, but TX is a great place for out of state investors – the population is soaring due to job growth.
As you think about where to buy out of state investment property and under market value properties, consider:
State law: Is the state friendly to property owners? You want to invest in a state that makes it easy to evict tenants or to foreclose. State that are tenant friendly, such as CA, make it so hard to evict or foreclose, you could lose your shirt.
Price to rent: What does rent cost compared to the price to buy? In my town, it’s 16.90, while in San Francisco it’s 30.05. Whoa! No wonder so many CA investors are investing in out of state investment properties.
These are not all the factors to consider when you are buying an out of state investment property instead of California investment property, but if those three areas look favorable, you probably could do well in that market and financially retire early as I did, in one of the best cities to invest in real estate. San Antonio investment property is excellent for cash flow.
How To Find Out Of State Investment Properties and Under Market Value Properties
Now that you know which market to buy your below market value investment properties, how are you going to locate that house? Most investors I know do it two ways:
They find a good real estate agent investor who is hooked up with excellent contractors, property inspectors, title company, real estate attorneys.
They find a good turnkey property provider. The house has been totally rehabbed and usually has tenants or buyers in place.
Which of these routes you go with will depend upon your investing goals again. Some out of state property investors want to have absolutely no headaches or management worries, so they just buy turnkey properties. Other out of state investors think that method is too expensive, so they manage their own rehabs and property management.
If you decide to find your own below market value properties in your chosen market, here’s what you’re looking at:
Buying Below Market Property Yourself
Advantages
You’ll get the house at a low price
High cap rate or ROI
Disadvantages
The house will not be producing income during the rehab and the time it takes to find a renter or an owner finance buyer
Rehab costs could shoot up if you don’t have reliable partners
Harder to manage the rehab and management from a distance
Difficulty in controlling material costs
Buying Turnkey Property
Advantages
Totally rehabbed
Tenant or buyer may already be in place
No work for you
Cost of material more predictable and stable
You know the quality of work you will get
Whole investment team is in place
Disadvantages
Higher initial cost
Lower ROI or cap rate
How big a difference are we looking at between buying a run down under market value house and buying a turnkey? Let’s take a look:
Run down property: Estate sale, $30k purchase, $30k in rehab – will produce 13% ROI with owner financing or renting.
Turnkey property: $80k purchase price, no repairs, will produce 9-10% ROI with owner financing or renting.
So which will it be? Most people would say you obviously go for the better ROI with the under market value property you do yourself. But remember, you are going to have to do a heck of a lot more work – at a distance – with the fixer upper property. A turnkey property will earn lower ROI, but it a lot less stress. At the very least, you might consider a good turnkey property if you are a beginner in real estate investing. That way, you can make some good positive cash flow as you develop your own investment property team.
It all boils down to how you look at investing in real estate. Investing by definition means using something to get some type of return. You just have to decide if you want to use just your money to get a return, or use your time AND money to get a potentially higher return.
Choose wisely based upon your personal investing goals, and you will hopefully be able to be financially retired on your time table.
Personally, if I were a usual buyer of California investment property, San Francisco investment property, Los Angeles investment property or San Diego investment property, I would strongly consider buying out of state investment property. Investment property is all about real estate cash flow…..it’s something you can rely on year in and year out, unlike hoping for appreciation.
I can’t tell you how many people I run into in my under market value properties career who have good jobs and hate their lives.
That is, they make $200,000 or more per year and yet, they work 60 hours per week, sit in dull cubicles for years and years, and wish they had the time to do what they want to do.
The truth is, most of us have been conned into thinking that the ONLY way to live in America is to trade time for money.
Passive income is the way to go – with under market value properties – at least 20% below market value. Who wants to sit bored in a cubicle or office for most of their working life? It’s a form of slavery, even if you are well paid.
But a guy or gal like you…..you make $200,000 per year or more out there in California or Washington….you most likely have some capital stored up so that you can buy under market value investment properties, and STOP trading your time for money. This type of out of state investment property is perfect for you. Passive income fast.
Here is a quick plan to stop trading your time for money TODAY. I am going to assume you have some capital to work with (if you don’t, go find some private investors to borrow money from.
If you live in a high cost area, strongly consider buying an out of state investment property.
This under market value investment property is one that I have scouted out carefully in a very hot part of 78201, which is north of down town San Antonio. It is seeing a lot of young professionals moving in and property values are shooting up. There is a good chance you could get a young professional buying this under market value property from you, or a hardworking blue collar family:
Address: 2229 W Hermosa Dr. San Antonio, TX 78201
Year Built: 1948
Description: Distressed property sale, 2 beds 1 bath, 769 sqft, lot size: .14 acres yearly taxes: estimated repairs: 35K (convert to 3 BR).
Max After Repair Value: $129,000.00.
Cash Price: $69,900 firm.
Exit Strategy: Owner finance 10% interest rate, $5000 down, 30 year note, $1100 per month PITI. Plenty of positive cash flow.
10% ROI no maintenance.
Here’s how you can retire early in one of the best cities to invest in real estate – Buy under market value properties just like these with cash or with borrowed cash. I do $35,000 in rehab. Then resell the house with owner financing to a qualified buyer. Simple!
The above out of state investment property will make you $1000-1100 per month, assuming you fund the deal with cash from your $200,000 or whatever job. In time you will be able to financially retire.
That’s it. Buy, rehab, resell, and collect the cash flow. It IS that simple. Lather, rinse and repeat.
Greetings from San Antonio, TX! It is a lovely, sunny and chilly day in south Texas.
Anyway, as I was overseeing this $30,000 rehab (which I am converting from a 2 bedroom to a 3 bedroom), I got to thinking about how far I’ve come since I started in under market value real estate investing in 2001.
I was able through a lot of hard work in San Antonio investment properties to retire financially at the young age of 28. Didn’t have much money, had $40,000 in debt from college. But in a few years’ time, I owned dozens of little bitty single family homes in San Antonio. In cash. I have lots of passive income.
Now my life is awesome :). I have plenty of monthly cash flow coming in from my below market value, owner financed houses. I could have listened to my parents and worked in a cubicle for the next 40 years, but I decided to ignore that. I’m sure glad I did and invested in under market value properties.
But what about you? Many people in America toil for decades in jobs where they are bored and listless….just counting down the days when they can retire.
Man. That. Sucks.
It does not have to be that way. The best way to live is how I am living today – with self determination, choices and autonomy, and passive income. I get to choose how to spend my days. If I wanted to, I could sit on a beach and chill for the next 20 years or whatever. I have that kind of cash flow. But I keep investing in under market value, positive cash flow investments in San Antonio because I love it and I want to help others. Buying and selling distressed properties makes my team money, makes me money, and I help people get into a house.
You too can change your life if you are unhappy with it. In my opinion, one of the best ways to change your life is to invest in San Antonio investment properties. If you do it right, you can within a few years have a substantial cash flow that you don’t have to work for.
How to invest? Well, I personally buy cheap houses below market value in San Antonio TX and seller finance them. I’m not a rental guy, not that there is anything wrong with that. Owner finance is just a lot simpler.
Of course, you need to have cash to do what I do. If you don’t have cash, go borrow some from a private investor. That’s really how I got rolling in 2001 – I was able to borrow $2 million from a private investor over two years. It sounds tough, but really, if you go and ask enough people, you can eventually borrow enough capital at a reasonable interest rate to buy your first house.
