George O'Brien III: Finding Success in Tertiary Markets

In our industry, we are typically told to stick with larger MSA’s that have a minimum population of one or two hundred thousand, has had consistent growth in population, income, and jobs over the past ten or more years, consistent rent growth and more.   The challenge is there are so many investors throwing money into those markets that cap rates have compressed to a point where it’s becoming increasingly difficult to make the numbers work.  Why not consider a path less traveled by the masses?  This is exactly what George O’Brien did when he began investing just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  While the surrounding area may not be one of the first places that comes to most people’s mind as an ideal place to build wealth in real estate investing, George has found tremendous success, including developing consistent deal flow, hitting double-digit cash-on-cash returns, and achieving support of community banks willing to bank roll his investments.  You may not have massive appreciation at the end of the holding period in these markets, but you can receive solid cash flow.