Good idea to still invest in Stockton, CA?
Hi everyone, I'm a newbie to BP and real estate investing, and want to thank everyone in advance for all of the great information and advice so far. My wife and I are looking for our first rental property (perhaps a duplex?), and was thinking of Stockton because investment properties in the SF Bay area where we live are way out of our price range.
Sorry if this question has been asked before, but I am hoping to revive this topic in case anyone has some updated perspective and wisdom for today's market conditions ~Q2 2014. I'm originally born and raised in Stockton, so I feel a little more comfortable with the town than most out of town investors that jumped on the opportunity when houses were dirt cheap. Unfortunately, we weren't in a position to execute on anything back then, and wanted to see if things were still profitable in Stockton for buy and hold (not flipping).
With prices creeping up like everywhere else and interest rates on the rise, I wonder if this is still a decent idea, or should I avoid this at all costs? If not Stockton, where? California may be a tougher than most states, and since we are just starting out we wanted something physically closer to us and still affordable so the logistics are manageable. If/when we get better at this and have a number of successful properties under our belt, maybe we'll feel comfortable investing outside of CA at that point.
Thank you!