Newbie Investor in San Diego / Florida

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Newbie Investor in San Diego / Florida

Jeremy Leech
Oceanside, CA · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 9 votes

Hi All,

My name is Jeremy, I am new to Real estate investing, and to be honest, I don't even know where to start. I am somewhat diversified as I have other investments however I have money sitting and have always wanted to get in to real estate. I feel confident that now is that time. I have considered buying rental properties, but the housing prices on San Diego county are absurd. I am contemplating buying multi family homes in south Florida, as that is where I am from and I would have some assistance with my properties there.  I have also considered "flipping" however I don't have the capital to buy homes outright nor do I have the experience. I am here to build relationships and to learn while helping others. I should add that I am still renting myself but can't decide if I should spend my capital on a home for my wife I or invest it out of San Diego where the money will go alot further. Any advice is greatly appreciated. If anyone is in the San Diego area and want to meet up, feel free to contact me. 

Excited to be apart of the community, thank you guys at BP for what you have going here!

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  • Brian Garrett
    Real Estate Investor · Palm Beach County, FL · Member since 2017 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    8y

    Welcome to BP!  Where in South Florida are you considering?

    Prices here are comparable to San Diego in terms of being expensive!

    0Reply
  • Jeremy Leech
    OP
    Oceanside, CA · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 9 votes
    8y
    Brian, Thanks, excited to be here. I was thinking in the Hollywood / ft lauderdale area. I see you are in palm beach. Is that where you invest? What’s your plan of action? Do you buy rentals and hold them or flips?
    0Reply
  • Bryan Pham
    Rental Property Investor · Oakland, CA · Member since 2016 · 602 posts · 250 votes
    8y

    Welcome @Jeremy Leech!

    0Reply
  • Brian Garrett
    Real Estate Investor · Palm Beach County, FL · Member since 2017 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    8y

    I'll buy both and yes I'm only looking for deals in Palm Beach County.

    Hollywood and Ft. Lauderdale are very competitive markets.

    You'll definitely want to focus on finding your own off-market deals.

    0Reply
  • Lydia Ford
    Realtor/Investor · Ft. Lauderdale, FL · Member since 2014 · 74 posts · 21 votes
    8y

    Welcome

    @Jeremy Leech Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale are great markets! Why are those cities your region of choice in South Florida?

    0Reply
  • Dave VisayaPro Member
    Moderator
    Audio Engineer and Investor · Cebu City, Cebu · Member since 2013 · 7k+ posts · 881 votes
    8y

    Hello @Jeremy Leech, welcome to BiggerPockets. It's great to have you here! 

    BiggerPockets
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  • Jeremy Leech
    OP
    Oceanside, CA · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 9 votes
    8y

    @Lydia Ford. I grew up in Aventura so I am familiar with the surrounding areas. I also feel that there might still be some good investments there. Im referring to Cash generating multifamily homes. What do you do? 

    1Reply
  • Jeremy Leech
    OP
    Oceanside, CA · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 9 votes
    8y

    @Dave Visaya thank man! Excited to be here

    0Reply
  • Lydia Ford
    Realtor/Investor · Ft. Lauderdale, FL · Member since 2014 · 74 posts · 21 votes
    8y

    I’m a realtor in South Florid

    0Reply
  • Mark Webb
    Rental Property Investor · Orlando, FL · Member since 2017 · 65 posts · 17 votes
    8y

    @Jeremy Leech Hey Jeremy the central Florida market has some great opportunity for small multi family compared to other expensive markets (2-4 units good for house hacking with low downpayment) and short term vacation rentals close to Disney that are producing great returns. PM if you want me to send you some to look over. I hope this helps!

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  • Dan H.Pro Member
    Investor · Poway, CA · Member since 2015 · 7k+ posts · 8k+ votes
    8y

    For what it is worth my suggestion is your start local, self-managed, house hacking a detached duplex. I could be making this suggestion due to the historically great ROI of San Diego. Or the Prop 13 protection. The sunny weather. The limited supply. The great demand. The historical price and rent appreciation. The local market knowledge that you likely possess. The ability to deal with problems without needing to get on a plane and fly to the OOS property. I could list so many reasons ...

    But the reason I make this recommendation is because it provides you the best opportunity to learn what is necessary to be a successful RE investor.  After you have some experience you will be more capable of building a qualified and trusted OOS team that could provide a great chance at OOS RE investing success.  You will know the efforts and role of the PM including what it takes to deal with tenants.  You will know how to deal with contractors and obtaining competitive bids.  You will know how to evaluate properties for being good buy n hold rental properties (the best cash flow properties sometimes make the worst rental properties).  In summary, you will have acquired a knowledge base that is very difficult to obtain using other methods.

    Good luck

    0Reply
  • Jeremy Leech
    OP
    Oceanside, CA · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 9 votes
    8y

    @Dan H. Thank you for your suggestions, my first thoughts were to stay local for the first couple properties. Like I said before, the price of the homes are a bit intimidating. I see you are located in Poway. Do you invest in the area? Id like to chat more if you have some time!

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  • Dan H.Pro Member
    Investor · Poway, CA · Member since 2015 · 7k+ posts · 8k+ votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Jeremy Leech:

    @Dan H. Thank you for your suggestions, my first thoughts were to stay local for the first couple properties. Like I said before, the price of the homes are a bit intimidating. I see you are located in Poway. Do you invest in the area? Id like to chat more if you have some time!

    I invest local.  We have tried the OOS but not the cheap, high cash flow OOS.  We had various issues with our OOS RE investments that mostly were a result of bad luck that was made more difficult to deal with via the long distances involved.

    The prices are high in San Diego in part due to the same reasons that make the San Diego RE such a smart investment.  In other words, the expected returns are partially built into the pricing.

    I will point out by house hacking you may be able to acquire an RE in San Diego for less than you can acquire an OOS RE. That is because as an owner occupied you may be able to purchase via FHA for 5% down versus typically at least 20% down (My last purchase was 25%: 75% LTV) for a non-owner occupied RE. So the $400K San Diego RE financed owner occupied via FHA at 5% will require similar down payment to a financed $100K OOS RE (if you can find the financing for the OOS RE). In addition often owner occupied RE has lower interest rate than non-owner occupied RE.

    You can colleague request me (I accept all colleague requests) and PM me any questions or discussion points. I typically respond to the PMs fast when I am in town.  Also if you want me to be more convincing on the reasons for local investing that was not my primary reason reflected in the post (i.e. great learning opportunity) let me know via PM.  I can make a strong case for investing in San Diego as it has worked well for us and we have been doing it long enough to have been through multiple declining markets.

    BTW every one of our local RE purchases have out performed everyone of out OOS purchases (we only have had 2 OOS purchases and only still own one of them). 

    I know of no one that has a San Diego RE investment for at least 5 years and an OOS RE investment of at least 5 years where their OOS RE investment has outperformed the San Diego RE investment.  If anyone reads this and has experienced their OOS RE investment of at least 5 outperforming their San Diego RE investment I would be interesting to hear about it (so I am opening it up to the entire BP community).  Maybe include the OOS location, the property appreciation, the rent appreciation, and the cash flow upon purchase as well as the cash flow today.

    Good luck

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  • Bruce May
    Lender · San Diego, CA · Member since 2011 · 664 posts · 231 votes
    8y
    Welcome to BP. Check out the NSDREI club in Oceanside to meet some local investors. Hope to see you there.
    0Reply
  • Kiera Underwood
    Real Estate Agent · Oklahoma City, OK · Member since 2019 · 956 posts · 600 votes
    7y

    @Jeremy Leech Curious to see how things played out? I talk to probably an investor a day who is coming to OKC to invest from CA. What'd you end up doing?!

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