In my last email we talked about traveling long distances.

It sparked an interesting conversation with a friend who told me about their trip to Las Vegas when they were just out of college.

My friend was considering buying a condo in Las Vegas. We talked about the last time they had been to Nevada.

It turns out – their entire basis for wanting a condo in Las Vegas was because they heard that the city was still growing and they were nostalgic about that road trip 20+ years ago.

I asked if they had a specific area of town that they were looking at “investing”.

It turns out my friend was a little further down the road and had a specific property in mind.

We looked at a listing. Nice photos, but mostly of the view of the Las Vegas skyline at night.

Very small number of units in this small community and these condos were CHEAP.

You veteran investors know – these are red flags for a variety of reasons.

Together we spent the next few moments going over a couple of websites that show crimes in any city in the U.S.

What we found was shocking.

In the last 90 days, within a few blocks of this property, we found murders, attempted DAYTIME murders, robberies and a body found on a street corner wrapped in sheets, and the list went on.

Disaster averted.

When the story is too good to be true, just dig a little deeper.

If you are considering investing any amount of money in a property out of town look closely into the neighborhood and maybe even the general area. If you find something that looks unsafe, unfriendly or maybe something that makes you uneasy – take a second or third look.

Trust your gut.

EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT. We all have a different background. What makes one person uncomfortable, is perfectly fine for the next investor.

I believe everyone needs a safe place to live. We all know the history or Washington DC and how bad some parts of the city was back in the 80’s.

If I let any of that murky history cloud my judgement I would have missed out on a large number of my fix and flips through the last 20+ years.

The crimes going on in the last 90 days just outside of the Las Vegas strip remind me all to much of the DC area in the 80’s.

If you had the stomach for it and wanted to buy a property in DC and hold it for 40 years, you could have made a fortune. But you would have likely had a lot of investor pain and drama in those years as well.

My point is this. Before you take a look at an area simply because the city shows up on some national list as a great place to invest, slow down and dig in a bit.

Do some research – it’s never been easier with the tools available online today.

That’s our topic this month at WREIA – investing out of town. So let’s jump in the old virtual station wagon and take a look at what’s out there.

And kids – put your seat belt on and lock your doors. Never mind what’s under those sheets on the corner.

Who wants ice cream?

Join us Monday night for our July WREIA meeting.

The topic for WREIA this month is:

“Top Places To Invest For Rentals, Flips and Long Term Holds”

Bring some questions Monday night.

We have a great group of investors who tune in to watch, interact and help other local DC area investors each month.

Come join us!

My sole focus for the July 2022 WREIA meeting is:

Helping you find areas across the country you may want to invest.

Spend a few moments with us at our next WREIA meeting Monday night– it could save you a fortune down the road.

See you Monday!