Real Estate Investing with Coach Carson #478: If Your City Is Too Expensive to Buy Rentals, Do This Instead
Mar 9, 2026
Ben Bidovich, a Bay Area teacher turned long-distance investor, builds cashflow-focused portfolios in affordable markets. He discusses why he left local expensive markets, how he picked Southern Indiana, funding structures like subject-to-appraisal rehab loans, building a remote team, and sourcing and stabilizing small multifamily and single-family rentals.
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Pick A Market Where Contacts Give Momentum
- Market choice can come down to momentum from trusted local contacts, not exhaustive national searches.
- Ben landed in Southern Indiana after positive conversations with the first agent and subsequent trustworthy feedback.
Be Selective And Favor Small Multifamily
- Define a buy box and be selective; prefer small multifamily and simple single-family homes for cashflow.
- Ben gravitated to duplexes and ~1,300 sqft simple homes because they balance rent-to-price and lower maintenance.
How Ben Funded His First Deals
- Ben funded his first deal with a 25% conventional down payment: $170,000 purchase with ~$45,000 down and $7,000 for a roof.
- Later deals used subject-to-appraisal loans that rolled purchase plus rehab into ~$73K loans with $1,000 rent.
