Local vs. Out-of-State Investing: Where to Buy Your First Rental (Rookie Reply)

Real Estate Rookie

BiggerPockets

How To, Education, Business, Investing, Entrepreneurship

4.8 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 28 November 2025

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Before you buy a rental property, you’ll need to decide where to invest. Some rookies feel more comfortable investing in their own backyards, while others prefer to handpick a market that will give them enough cash flow or appreciation to reach their long-term goals. But which one will give YOU an advantage? Welcome to another Rookie Reply! Today, Ashley and Tony are tackling more questions from the BiggerPockets Forums. First, they weigh the pros and cons of investing out of state before debating whether you should get a home equity line of credit (HELOC) on your primary residence to help fund an investment property. Planning to do a BRRRR (buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat)? Then you’ll need to have your financing lined up ahead of time. Should you use a single loan to cover the purchase and rehab, or is it better to fund them separately? We’ll break down all your options. Do you need a property manager? Stick around for some crucial tips and interview questions that will help you make the right choice! In This Episode We Cover Whether you should invest locally or out of state for your first real estate deal The best ways to fund a BRRRR (buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat) Using a home equity line of credit (HELOC) for a down payment How to find a reliable property manager for your rental property “Overlooked” property management fees that could kill your cash flow And So Much More! Check out more resources from this show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BiggerPockets.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/rookie-646 Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Should you buy out of state for your very first deal? What if it's your only way to get started?
0:05.6	But the risk keeps you up at night. Today we're tackling three new listener questions that cover
0:10.0	exactly what new investors face, when to go remote, how to do your first burr, and how to manage
0:15.3	from hundreds of miles away.
0:24.7	This is the Real Estate Rookie Podcast, and I'm Ashley Care.
0:26.1	And I'm Tony J. Robinson.
0:28.0	With that, let's get into today's first question.
0:29.6	So this question comes from David.
0:32.7	Me and my wife are new to this and are saving for our first property.
0:35.6	Our goal is to start looking for properties within the next couple of months.
0:37.0	We have a couple of questions.
0:41.4	Would it be wise to invest out of state for our first investment where we can find places slash websites to analyze areas that will provide positive cash flow for us? And they said
0:46.5	they do plan to go visit it in person. Would it be wise to use a he lock on our current
0:50.7	residence to use as a down payment for a new property.
0:56.0	So a couple of questions here, basically.
0:58.5	They're saying, A, doesn't make sense to invest out of state.
1:03.9	B, does it make sense to use a HELOC on their primary to fund the purchase of this investment property?
1:04.6	And also, I guess some questions on where to get the data.
1:08.0	So, Asha, I guess I'll kick to you first.
1:10.4	A few questions here. Investing long
1:12.4	distance versus investing in your backyard. What's your take? I think it is an advantage to
1:18.1	invest in your backyard because you have a better knowledge of the streets. You are physically there
	...

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