BiggerPockets

Right now I am doing all the necessary work to make my first real estate purchase. I'm trying to decide whether to purchase locally and live in the property (owner-occupied), or to keep renting for a while and use my money to buy a less expensive investment property in a neighboring county.

I live in the Bay Area, CA so even in this down market the prices of real estate are still high (compared to rest of the nation).

I have two different goals in real estate:

1) I am interested in long term buy & hold investments and especially building up a portfolio of cash flow properties.

2) I want to start a real estate business to increase my income. I am currently an entrepreneur with my own tech consulting company--so I've been through the process of starting and building a company (marketing, accounting, website, networking, etc.). However I'm still trying to decide which area is best for me to work with in real estate.

I've been reading a lot about short sales and there is all this buzz around it; but RE professionals in my area say there's no money in this--the deals never go through and when they do there's not enough left over after paying the broker, bank and seller. I understand the process but unsure if it's worth me spending a year or so to build the business?

Also I'm interested in Wholesaling and Rehabbing. I need to do more research but basically trying to find the most lucrative trade in the current market to start a business around.

Advice! Any help/comments appreciate. I especially am looking for advice from someone understanding the California (Bay Area specifically) market. If I am starting a RE company, what area should I specialize in to be most lucrative in my area in this market?

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