I've got $500k in cash, how should I invest it?

[Account Closed]

I'm a 29 year old American living in California (Silicon Valley) with $500k in cash.

Due to religious reasons, I cannot use leverage (i.e. bank loans), so my investments need to be all cash.

I need to invest this money in a way that will get me good rental returns.

I do think my only options may be to go out of state.

I was thinking of potentially buying two condos in not so great neighborhoods in California ($250k each) and renting them out.

I was also thinking about going out of state and buying two nice townhouses (maybe somewhere in Arizona, North Carolina, Texas, etc) at $250k each and renting them out.

I'm not sure what to do with my money that will get me good returns, while not being able to use leverage.

Should I go out of state, or invest somewhere in California where the rental returns won't be so great?

If so, which state and area?

[Mike Dymski]

If you won't use leverage, I recommend syndications or some other passive investment such as the stock market.  Real estate is way too much work to not achieve outpaced returns and you will not get that with unlevered real estate.