Many people are just as terrified of long-distance real estate investing as they are of long-distance relationships (and, believe us, that is a lot of people). However, there is no reason to be!

Picture this: you decide that you want to make some extra income by investing in real estate. You live in a moderately sized town, or maybe even a city, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find a worthwhile property… right? Well, not exactly. Many times, investors struggle to find suitable real estate in their areas, whether it is because it is too expensive, because there are not many properties on the market, or because of some other reason.

Because of this, you are forced to do a little more digging, and maybe a little more expanding, and suddenly—voila! You find the perfect property… except it is on the other side of the country. It has every single thing you are looking for as an investor, but since it is too far, you sigh in defeat and close the tab.

Well, listen here: don’t close that tab!

Just because real estate is not in your vicinity does not mean that you should not invest. In fact, investing long-distance can actually be extremely beneficial to your business. You just need to know how to do it right!

Take advantage of the internet

Twenty—or even just ten—years ago, it would not have been feasible to invest long-distance unless you could travel to the property yourself, preferably multiple times. However, with many businesses and transactions centered around the internet, long-distance real estate investing has become a viable reality.

There are a number of resources that are just a few clicks away, resources that real estate professionals do not use as much as they should, resources that can help you start investing outside of your bubble:

• Easy access to rent estimates. You can use websites like Rentometer to very quickly estimate the rent of a property. All you have to do is put in the address and the number of bedrooms. You can also do some digging on some other websites to see what people are charging for similar properties in the area.
• Communicate with people on-site. When you have a team of subcontractors or associates working on-site (which we will discuss soon), you can still see the property. The advancement of technology has granted us the ability to send and receive videos or even video chat, so you can get a complete walkthrough of every nook and cranny.
• Research for reviews. If you are going through an agent or a specific company, do your research. If people have phenomenal experiences, they tend to post about it, and the same is true for the opposite. You know that if a service has a one-star rating and some rather nasty reviews, it’s time to turn the other way.
• Get an idea of a property’s ARV. Property listing portals such as Zillow or Realtor let you view the past sales of a property as well as the prices of homes in the same area. While you probably should not use these figures to determine your final after repair value (ARV), it can give you a pretty good idea of what you should be selling or rent for.

Crack open a book

Somewhere in the mix, people have started reading fewer and fewer books. However, books are actually one of the best sources of knowledge you have at your disposal. You can learn a lifetime’s worth of techniques from somebody who has used them for only a couple of dollars! Here are a few books about long-distance real estate investing that can benefit you:

• Long-Distance Real Estate Investing by David Greene
• Long-Distance Real Estate Investing by Robert Smith
• Out of State: A Practical Guide to Long-Distance Real Estate Investing by R. M. Andrews

Build a good, trustworthy team

If you ask anybody involved in long-distance real estate investing for some advice, they are bound to bring up the fact that the team you put together can make or break the deal. Whether it is your agent, your property manager, your subcontractor, or somebody else, you need to make sure that you have a reliable team that knows what is going on:

• Ask for referrals
• Outline a communication plan
• Set goals and deadlines
• Request and give regular updates
• Make sure that everybody is on the same page

Investing in real estate far away from home can be scary, but it does not have to be! As long as you do your research, plan ahead, and construct a strong team, you can make thousands from a long-distance real estate investment.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out and contact our team. We would be more than happy to help!