@Nadine O. There are a few who have replied about investing in the Bay Area vs leaving to go find a new home. I commend you for wanting to jump into the world of real estate investing, it is definitely a good one. Your question is not only about investing but actually grounded in the more personal aspect of lifestyle. I say this because you are actually planning to move to your investment location. In my perspective this actually makes the decision making process more complicated.
The first baseline assumption is that you and your partner have extremely flexible jobs that would allow you to move anywhere without a dire financial consequence. However, if that is not the case then a considerable amount of time should be spent pondering the ramifications of destabilizing your finances. Although getting your cost of living down is something we all should do, you need to keep your eye on the effects of an income change would have on your DTI. As you will be buying your first property, DTI will be mountain that needs to be tamed and if income goes down the move might not have been worth the effort.
Additionally, the coastal states do offer things that fly over states can't, a basic logistical advantage. In this instance, I am applying this to a personal perspective vs an investment perspective. Do you like to travel? As an example, let's pick Hawaii? It is a direct flight from SFO, OAK or SJC. My daughter lives in Dallas. She has to transit through a west coast hub and essentially travels 24 hours to get to a place that is only 5 hours from the Bay Area. Most of Asia is a direct flight too. From your picture it appears you are young, so transiting might not be a big deal. However, when you get up in years like myself a layover REALLY sucks.
I have traveled to many cities in the US and around the globe. I have yet to find a place with so much cultural diversity. I can literally go to my local grocery store and hear 4 or more languages being spoken. I can get good ethnic food from pretty much any country on the planet within a hours drive of my home. When I was substantially younger, I often would go snowboarding in Tahoe and then have a BBQ for dinner in Santa Cruz for dinner in the same day. Yes, those were long days, but extremely fun. I cannot tell you how blown my mind was meeting people in fly over states who had never seen the ocean. I had one employee come to California, for the first time, who actually stopped to take pictures of the hills in Milpitas because she had never seen a "mountain". I literally thought she was joking, but she had never seen anything like them!
Investing OOS state is pretty much a cut and dry checklist that can be completed. But when you say you are going to move to that location, be very careful to separate the decision making process between your personal goals and investment goals. Live where you want to live and invest where it makes the most sense. Remember "cash-flow makes you rich, but appreciation makes you wealthy".
Good luck!
-Arlen
