Condo as a first time buyer to get journey started

[Joshua Piche]

Hello, so I have been looking for some time several ways to start my real estate journey. Being someone who lives in Socal I have looked into out of state , Socal high dessert mainly due to my budget. But recently I have seen some condos for sale near me. They are about the same price as the out of state and high dessert properties I have looked at. So I thought a condo would be a good way to move out from home finally and start my real estate journey. I’ve read that condos don’t appreciate as much as single family or multi families. But just wanted to hear opinions and would love to hear any experiences of owning condos especially if it was in south Bay Los angeles. Long Beach, Carson, torrance, san pedro etc. Ideally I would like to live in this condo and after a while move out and rent it . 

[Kerlous Tadres]

Hey @Joshua Piche, from my experience, a condo can be a solid first step if the HOA is reasonable and long-term rentals are allowed. They may not appreciate as fast as single-family homes, but strong rental demand can still make them a good hold once you move out. I'd recommend running the numbers as a future rental before buying and making sure the HOA doesn't kill your cash flow.