Are you mentally prepared to grow your Real Estate Portfolio remotely?

By Andre Stewart, Author of The Real Estate Investing Diet & Founder of InvestFar Real Estate Investing App 

For many people limiting beliefs is the main culprit that prevents them from getting started in real estate. A lot of times it’s a general lack of knowledge and experience around investing period that prevents people from even attempting to invest in real estate. Add that to investing in real estate remotely and your head starts to explode. 

I think the first thing people should do is educate themselves more about economics, but to be a great remote investor take it a step further a learn about the global economy. If you’re remote investing it’s for a few reasons, in my opinion, you either can’t afford to invest locally, there’s something going on economically in another location that you’re interested in investing like job growth, lower cost of living, etc or you’re looking for a second home for vacation. If you understand the global economy you can add all of those factors I mentioned in and invest abroad for better returns and for a fraction of the price. I always say if you’re going to invest in real estate remotely for the best ROI then invest in real estate remotely where you can actually do that and not sacrifice your returns. 

First thing you need to do is Know Your Financial Stage. 

You are to view real estate investing as a financial improvement driver. Before delving into any aspect of real estate, you must be aware of your entire financial profile. New real estate investors have a common goal of attaining financial independence. You should view this as the mountain peak, where all your investments cover every bit of your living expenses. The principle behind scaling this mountain applies equally to either real estate or any other business niche. To reach this point in a shorter time, your saving rate must increase. Your savings now form the basis of the investment, which can be used for any preferred asset such as real estate. Identifying your position on the financial stage will help determine your next line of action. Are you at the bottom? Then you must seek out financing through hard money lending, raising funds, or maybe even crowdfunding for funds to invest to get started. If you’re on top, you are a step closer to investing. Depending on your financial stage, certain real estate investing strategies would be more relevant than others.  

Take the first step to start investing in real estate remotely, that’s as simple as looking at what financial resources you have available to you, it’s very important to know where you are on the financial stage when you’re starting out so you know how to navigate.  

Have a strategy, why are you investing remotely, what are you trying to attain by investing remotely versus locally, and what is the goal? Increase your income, cutting costs. Once you acquire a property remotely if it’s for the long term that is a lot easier and doesn’t require as much work as flipping a home remotely because you’re simply buying a property and putting a tenant in it and possibly hiring a property manager. If you’re flipping a property without a general contractor you have to hire a contractor, get an electrician, plumber, painter and the list goes on. Once you hire them now you have to make sure the flip goes successfully either you hire a project manager or go visit as often as possible. Every property I have bought has been remote and the best way to streamline the process I mentioned with flipping a property is to find a real estate who has experience dealing with investors or has investment properties themselves as they will be familiar with the process and have a vested interest in seeing the property get completed so they can list it for sale. They are licensed and bonded and have a lot at stake should anything go wrong on their watch. This method has worked for me remotely regardless of the location. 

Last but not least and most important. Build your team. Find a bird-dogger/wholesaler in the market you’re interested in because they will have all of the connections you need from contractors, title companies, and real estate agents, you name it and a wholesaler will know them because that is how they make a living. Most of the time wholesalers get their properties from being boots on the ground and dealing with a host of people in real estate investing space because they always need inventory to sell to buyers. In addition, they can also find you deals which is the hardest part of investing remotely.   

Find an agent, general contractor, plumber, electrician, and painter, and the list continues until the team is built. The hardest part of investing remotely is not having reliable people, you will pay for it in the end trust me. Each time I went to a new market I lost money until the team was built and anytime, I found a new property that I wanted to buy to flip if they weren’t available I wouldn’t do the deal, I had to learn this part the hard way and my bottom line suffered. 

Trust the process and you will be glad you did because once you learn how to invest remotely in one location and create a system, the world is yours for the taking. 

About the Author 

André Stewart was a Banker for 10 years at major banks.  Post banking, he founded the first global real estate investing app that allows people to invest remotely safely and easily. The app allows users to manage, rent, sell and evaluate using hyperlocal analytics to make remote due diligence and property buying less risky all while connecting users with other investors anywhere in the world. 

André Stewart is also a bestselling author, host of a popular podcast called Investing Uncensored, a regular contributor on the housing market for USA Today and other national networks, and founder of InvestFar. 

André Stewart was nominated for Los Angeles Times CFO & CEO Leadership Award in 2021.