Newbie from Los Angeles, CA

[Tony Chen]

Hi All,

My name is Tony. I'm a newbie to this forum and relatively new to the real estate investing world. I'm interested in buy and hold as the rental income could be a great source of passive income. I do have a rental property; however, the rent could only cover mortgage, insurance, and property taxes (may be Southern California is not the best place for me to invest in). Anyways, I'm hoping to learn a lot of information on finding the right properties to invest, and gradually helping other people with similar interests.

[Karen Margrave]

@Tony Chen Don't get sucked in by all the naysayers that tell you to invest out of state! Southern California has high prices for a reason, it's called high demand! High demand drives up values. Though you may not be getting a big cash flow from the property, IF it's in a decent location, with a solid demand, more than likely it will appreciate in the years ahead. Many times that appreciation far surpasses any cash flow you might have in lesser valued areas, and when it's time to sell, it will probably sell faster than other areas out of state. In addition, we have a strong economy in southern California, meaning more qualified tenants. 

Personally I'd take a California property in a good area over any other state!