Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Why Invest Out of State? 12
Don't Trust Your Gut 16
Disrupt the Norm 18
Investing in Your Own Backyard 20
The Crop Analogy 21
Chapter 2 The Power of the Internet 25
Finding Homes through the MLS 26
Finding Property Tax Records 27
Homeowner's Insurance Online 30
Ways to Determine an Area's Desirability 30
Determining Rental Rates 34
Finding Past Permits 35
Using Your Smartphone to Manage Your Business 37
Using Technology to Buy Property Sight Unseen 38
Smartphone Apps in Your Business 41
Chapter 3 Rules and Relationships 46
Price-to-Rent Ratios 48
Determine an Area's Price-to-Rent Ratio 50
Alternative Strategies to Buy-and-Hold 55
Vacation Rentals 57
How to Leverage Relationships 58
Chapter 4 The First Members of Your Team 61
The Deal Finder 63
Find High-Producing Agents 64
Agents with a Team 65
Ways to Save Time on Your Search 69
An Agent and an Investor-My Advice to You 76
The Lender 79
Loans for Investors 83
How to Find a Lender 86
How to Reach Out to Lenders 88
Alternative Lending Options 91
The Ease of Electronic Payments 93
Supercharging Your Equity Growth, the Easy Way 94
Electronic Rent Deposits 95
Leveraging Financing 98
Accurately Reporting Rental Income 102
Chapter 5 The Rest of Your Team 105
Finding Referrals 107
What to Ask Before Hiring a Property Manager 112
How to Negotiate Better Terms 117
Leveraging Your Property Manager's Knowledge 118
The Contractor 120
Chapter 6 Understanding Your Market 135
Tracking Property Values 137
What to Do When Prices Are Rising 138
What to Do When Prices Are Dropping 140
Investing in Down Markets, Wherever They May Be 142
Rental Rates 144
Anticipating Rental Rate Increases 147
Following Employment Trends 149
Understanding Your Tenant Pool 150
Chapter 7 Working with the Market 155
Creating an Apples-to-Apples Comparison 156
Understanding Return on Equity 159
Timing the Market 161
The "Headache Factor" and Opportunity Cost 163
Improving Your Portfolio's Performance 166
Timing Your Lease Renewals Correctly 169
Cash for Keys 171
Accept Some Headaches 172
The 1031 Like-Kind Exchange 178
Chapter 8 Managing Out-of-State Properties 181
Give Your Contractor Incentive and Maximize Your Results 185
Create Accountability through Paying a Bonus 187
Create Accountability through Advertising 188
Paying for Materials Yourself 189
Adding Value by Adding Your Own Time 191
Using Your Contractors' House Accounts to Save You Money 194
How to Manage Paying Your Contractor 196
How to Pay Your Contractor 197
The Partnership Mentality 201
Chapter 9 Finding Materials 205
R&D (Rip Off and Duplicate) 207
Finding Design Inspiration 208
Getting Samples from Your Contractor 219
When the Design Idea Is Formed 221
Determining the Value of Upgrades 223
How to "Hack" Your Contractor 230
The Upgrade Hack 231
Four Simple Factors to Determine Value 237
Finance Hacking 244
Chapter 10 Maximize ROI 247
Big Lots Equal Big Opportunity 248
Buying Bad Houses in Nice Areas 252
Chapter 11 Tricks to Find More Deals Out of State 259
Real Estate Owned 261
Short Sales 266
NOD 268
Half-Finished Homes 270
Leveraging the Listing Agent 272
Paying Your Real Estate Agent a Bonus 278
Chapter 12 The Long-Distance Investor 281
