Noob from Bay Area, CA

[Josh C.]

Hello there BP!

My wife and I have been listening to the podcast for a while and are interested in learning how we can use real estate investing to help us along the path to financial freedom, so we can spend more time with our child (and future children!)

We are just getting started and currently don't own any properties.  I can't figure out how anyone makes money in rentals in the Bay Area so we will likely look to invest in markets that are long distance from where we currently live, but in areas we could see ourselves living in one day in the future: Southern California (North County, San Diego), Oregon, and Louisiana.

Looking forward to soak up as much I can and meeting the many fine folks on these forums as well as finding areas I can help others out (I build websites for a living).

Cheers!

[Brock VandenBerg]

Welcome to BP Josh! I always recommend real estate investors start by purchasing their own home.  We follow similar paths. I moved to the Bay Area from North County San Diego in the early 2000's.  After waiting for several months, I purchased a 2 bed / 2 bath condo in Fremont, CA for some ridiculous price at the time and with a mortgage that I could not afford and rented a room to various co-workers to cover about 50% of the mortgage.  To make a long story short, I moved back to North County San Diego and have held the condo as a rental ever since.  Comparable units are now selling at an even higher ridiculous price. I honestly can say that it has been one of the best investments that I have ever made.  Back to my original point, start with your own home and expand from there.