outlook on Southern CA market

[Andrew Mok]

Hi everyone, 

hope everyone is doing well from the pandemic situation. My wife and I have been just setting aside cash to buy a home. we have multiple ideas, starting from:

1. buy a single family condo/townhome here in orange county

2. stretch a bit, buy a duplex here, rent out the other smaller property, eventually move out to a second home and turn this one into a rental property. 

3. buy in my hometown (Duluth GA) as a rental, while we still rent an apartment. My dad is a broker there, so he can help me out with the management, and hiring the needed team. This could be a fastest way to have a paid off home since prices are cheaper there, but i have to have the 20% down since it's an investment property, negating some of the cash leverage effect. 

We are gonna wait it out until the mortgage forbearance ends and see how the market plays out, but curious to know what the BiggerPocketers think of the future market, and what you would do out of the 3 options when it's time to pounce. 

[Aaron K.]

@Andrew Mok the problem is that your three options all have different goals so it is like comparing apples and oranges.  There is no right answer.

1. Go with this option if you want to buy a primary residence and don't want to have to deal with rising rents and landlords anymore

2. Go with this option if you want to not have to deal with a landlord but also want some return on your money and hopefully a good total return over the long term

3. Go with this option if you are looking for immediate returns and/ or cash flow