Hello from Silicon Valley, looking for my first rental property

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Hello from Silicon Valley, looking for my first rental property

Reinaldo Giudici
Mountain View, CA 路 Member since 2019 路 6 posts 路 3 votes

Hi, I am Reinaldo, currently living in Mountain View, CA with my wife and two kids.

Recently I have become more and more interested in real state out of Silicon Valley (prices are just too high for me here), so I am looking forward to make our first real estate investment by getting a rental property.

I am open to locations, and have some down payment money and great credit score. 

Any suggestions or intros on how to get started, how to find good partners for buying remotely, and good property management companies is welcomed.

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Zeke Liston
Real Estate Agent 路 Columbus, OH 路 Member since 2018 路 1k+ posts 路 1k+ votes
7y

@Reinaldo Giudici I am about to close on a duplex in Columbus, Ohio! I am sure you have heard about how hot the market is here at the moment! If I were you, I would consider this area. The only downside is all of the competition in the area! Let me know if you have any questions! 

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  • Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
    Real Estate Consultant 路 Summerlin, NV 路 Member since 2014 路 45k+ posts 路 66k+ votes
    7y
    start with places you can drive to within 2 to 3 hours.. 

    Central valley..  Lake co  Mendo county  Sacramento  .. i like Richmond for a long term play.
    reminds me a little of what happened to East palo Alto ..

    Vacaville area..  Winters  and i really like the little city of Colusa..
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    1Reply
  • Anthoney Hanks
    Real Estate Broker 路 Forney, TX 路 Member since 2019 路 1k+ posts 路 399 votes
    7y

    @Reinaldo Giudici Welcome to BiggerPockets! Truly nice to meet you. Good luck going forward! 馃榿 I believe Brandon Turner wrote a book on investing remotely. You might check that out.

    0Reply
  • Reinaldo Giudici
    OP
    Mountain View, CA 路 Member since 2019 路 6 posts 路 3 votes
    7y

    Hi @Jay Hinrichs, thanks for the reply, I have looked around places like that, but still feels like a ton of money for my first investment, doing a check on Zillow seems to render places that are 300k+ maybe I am missing something, but I am looking more for the 120k to 150k that seems feasible in other parts of the country. 

    I would definitely be more comfortable with something I can drive to and check by myself, but I also see people being successful with remote investments, and I think that would open more opportunities.

    0Reply
  • Reinaldo Giudici
    OP
    Mountain View, CA 路 Member since 2019 路 6 posts 路 3 votes
    7y

    @Anthoney Hanks thanks, will have to check that out !

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    Real Estate Broker 路 Columbus, OH 路 Member since 2019 路 119 posts 路 151 votes
    7y

    @Reinaldo Giudici I鈥檓 certainly biased because I live here, but read up on Columbus, Ohio. The market out here is strong with a lot of tech companies (including Google and Facebook) and Fortune 500 companies (Nationwide, Big Lots, L Brands, Cardinal Health, etc.) laying down roots here. I have about 30 units inside our outer belt and we are seeing A LOT of out of state money flood our investment field here.

    Happy to provide more details if interested. Good luck on your investment journey!

    2Reply
  • Remington LymanBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent 路 Columbus, OH 路 Member since 2017 路 6k+ posts 路 7k+ votes
    7y

    @Reinaldo Giudici I got started in REI by buying a duplex. I then moved onto quads and just submitted an offer on 15 units. I like the strategy of buying in cities with a steady job and population growth. I was fortunate to end up in Columbus, Ohio after attending The Ohio State University. 

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  • Ricardo Gomez
    San Diego, CA 路 Member since 2018 路 210 posts 路 67 votes
    7y

    Hello Reinaldo,

    Welcome to BiggerPockets. I recommend you read David Greene's book on out of state real estate investing, to give you an idea on how to get started. Best of luck on your endeavors.

    Sincerely,

    0Reply
  • Zeke Liston
    Real Estate Agent 路 Columbus, OH 路 Member since 2018 路 1k+ posts 路 1k+ votes
    7y

    @Reinaldo Giudici I am about to close on a duplex in Columbus, Ohio! I am sure you have heard about how hot the market is here at the moment! If I were you, I would consider this area. The only downside is all of the competition in the area! Let me know if you have any questions! 

    2Reply
  • Reinaldo Giudici
    OP
    Mountain View, CA 路 Member since 2019 路 6 posts 路 3 votes
    7y

    Thanks @Account Closed Will start looking at Columbus Ohio. Sounds like a potential good fit

    1Reply
  • Alex Rodriguez
    Sacramento, CA 路 Member since 2017 路 52 posts 路 40 votes
    7y

    @Reinaldo Giudici Finding deals in the lower price range is difficult to find here in CA and are  even more difficult especially in the Sacramento region. However, it is not impossible to find. As @Jay Hinrichs mentioned to have to look out a bit. I grew up in colusa county and know the region very well. Im in contract for a property at 135k, rents are around 1250, so its close to the 1% (hard to find here as everyone knows). You don't have to leave CA to make an investment strategy work for you. 

    0Reply
  • Reinaldo Giudici
    OP
    Mountain View, CA 路 Member since 2019 路 6 posts 路 3 votes
    7y

    @Alex Rodriguez Thank you, that gives me some hope, I'll start looking more and more. Are you finding places like that one on places like Zillow/Redfin or through local agents?  

    0Reply
  • Alex Rodriguez
    Sacramento, CA 路 Member since 2017 路 52 posts 路 40 votes
    6y

    @Reinaldo Giudici, this property was on the market and it had expired to i reached out to the seller with a letter offering to buy if she was still interested. There are many ways to go about finding properties. Whether it be marketing on your own, pocket listings from an agent, or driving for dollars just do it and make offers.  

    0Reply
  • Jo-Ann LapinPro Member
    Loan Officer 路 Tustin, CA 路 Member since 2015 路 3k+ posts 路 713 votes
    6y

    Look into Fairfield , Vacaville and Clearlake. Rentals are very much demanded and the price point is still reasonable . I hope this helps .

    [email protected]
    1Reply
  • Dmitriy Fomichenko
    Solo 401k Expert 路 Anaheim Hills, CA 路 Member since 2012 路 18k+ posts 路 6k+ votes
    6y

    @Reinaldo Giudici

    Welcome to the BP family! Great that you joined the site! Here are some recommendations for you:

    Find and connect with other BP members that are in your area:
    https://www.biggerpockets.com/search/users
    Set up keyword alerts to be notified of the topics that interest you: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts
    Read Beginner鈥檚 Guide: http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing
    Check out BP Podcasts: https://www.biggerpockets.com/podcast

    Wishing you the best!

    1Reply
  • Roderick Giles
    Real Estate Agent 路 Fairfield, CA 路 Member since 2015 路 25 posts 路 1 vote
    6y

    @Reinaldo Giudici it is true that Fairfield, Vacaville and even parts of Vallejo are still good cities to find rental properties. I am a Realtor in Fairfield and also an investor myself. If you have any questions about this market feel free to reach out to me anytime. Good Luck!

    1Reply
  • Art Perkitny
    Specialist 路 Cleveland, OH 路 Member since 2018 路 232 posts 路 348 votes
    6y

    @Reinaldo Giudici here is a document that may help with your search. It lists all the cities within the country over 100k in population and is ordered by median home value. 

    Link to Spreadsheet

    I suggest selecting a few cities that meet your criteria and then dive deeper into researching the sub-markets that comprise each of them. 

    The sub-market selection will have more of an impact on price as well as investment performance than the city itself. 

    Hope this helps 

    2Reply
  • Reinaldo Giudici
    OP
    Mountain View, CA 路 Member since 2019 路 6 posts 路 3 votes
    6y

    @Art Perkitny Thanks that looks interesting! at least a good starting point

    0Reply
  • Greg Fyfe
    Member since 2018 路 4 posts 路 2 votes
    6y

    @Reinaldo Giudici I also live in Silicon Valley with a small family and have recently come to the same conclusion for myself.  I recently found Bigger Pockets, which really does bring hope to see so many others finding success and sharing their lessons.  Best of luck on your journey!

    1Reply
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