Out of State or Local Wait?
First of all, wasn't that catchy? Ok so here's my situation and I'm hoping to get a myriad of opinions knowing full well there might not be one right answer.
I'm 26, single
I live in Los Angeles
Make 55k a year before tax
I have around 20k in invest-able cash (recently taken out of stock market, please don't crucify me!)
Saving $400 a month
I do not own any real estate
I would love to stop renting, but leaving LA is not an option and real estate prices are obscene here. Even house hacking would not satisfy the 1% rule. I want to invest out-of-state, but would doing so make me ineligible for first-time-home-buyer incentives? These are only available to owner occupied purchases in LA and I don't want to lose this huge advantage if I choose to buy in LA in the future (once/if the market crashes).
If I do not lose those incentives, I would lean towards buying out-of-state and getting a reputable management company to manage the property on my behalf. I would be curious to see if anyone would recommend just biting the bullet in LA and getting an FHA loan + FTHB incentives despite the red hot RE market. If so I would like to get a 2/2 apartment and rent out the other room or Airbnb the thing (maybe both!). Question is...will the amount I'm saving on rent (once I own my apt) be enough to compensate me for the reduced RE prices from an impending RE crash in LA? Should I just bunker down and wait till a crash before making my first move? This is my dilemma that is currently preventing me from action.
All opinions are welcome! Thanks in advance!