Newbie from San Diego, CA

[Brandon Wong]

Hi BP!

My name is Brandon and I'm planning on getting into long term rental properties.  I'm currently in the stage of learning more (that's why I'm here!) about all aspects.  I'm currently in San Diego and I'd like to start here so that I'm near my investment but I've also heard that its not a good place to invest so I'm in the process of verifying this and learning the pros and cons.  I'm weary of starting off with a far away property.

I'm generally a numbers guy (I do data science, not an accountant) so I've been trying to put together a spreadsheet of the finances to see how rental properties stack up against investing in Vangard's SP500 funds. 

I'm looking for general advice and discussion to supplement my own research.  General thoughts and questions I have include:

1.  How should I be viewing the San Diego market?  Wait a few years?  Invest elsewhere?

2.  I'm thinking about partnering with a friend who I feel can help with having feet on the ground in Los Angeles area.  I've heard many warnings about dangers of partnering with friends so we're both just tentatively "sharing ideas" before putting pen to paper.  Any advice here?

3.  Hire vs self.  I'd like to do more to learn more but I have a full time job so I'm thinking about how to balance hire vs self.

Looking forward to hopefully being active here!

-Brandon