When purchasing investment property one of my businesses philosophy as well as personal rules are to buy locally. When investing in real estate with my own money I have and will always purchase property that I can reach within 15 minutes. I have owned property that was only a 45 minute drive which turned out very bad. One way a 45 minute drives to check a plumbing issue or pick up a rent, not fun and who has the time.
With this said the reason I am posting today is investors purchase several properties in the greater New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina. Some three years later these investors are still holding a great majority of these properties with nothing to show for them. I have investors from Californian, Rhoda Island, Ohio, Nevada and Florida. All thought that they had hit the Powerball. The problem now is the economy and the rebuilding of New Orleans has not gone as smooth as anyone would like. All are facing foreclosure and/or just sitting on these properties until things change.
One thing all these investor have in common is that they did not deal with a local realtor who knew the area where they were purchasing. The other is the distance from their office to their investment. A lot of money was to be made in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina but many are still feeling the effects of the storm.
