Breaking into the Market from Irvine, Ca

[Brandon Duff]

Hello! My name is Brandyn and I am from Irvine, CA. I am a fitness company owner for personal training also in Irvine. I am 28 almost 29 in March and recently engaged. We plan on getting married in April of 2016. Many of my wealthier clients have investment properties. They either had the wealth before hand and bought a few multi unit properties or multiple single family homes or they bought many many years ago and buying is different today. All of them are out in other states vs buying in California. I know that I can't be a trainer all my life so figured I would start investing since its "passive" income. Irvine being one of the most expensive places to buy/live besides maybe NY and SF, I don't think an investment property here is the right choice. I don't have the capital that my clients have so they can't point me where to start for my first property.. They suggested in California and close by so maintain it but they don't invest in California due to taxes. I've been looking at zillow to see the difference in prices/rents in local areas. I saved a few posts to read up but other than that, I haven't got too deep into it yet since joining. My client who is a lender said I would qualify for about 200k based on my income and if I went with my fiancée it would be near 500k. I have a 740 credit score and about 30k saved. Her credit score is not great and has nothing saved. I guess I would love a mentor of sorts. Thanks!

[Rick H.]

Keywords won't teach you anything about deal making. 

You currently trade your services for money, presumably by the hour. There's a big mind shift required to go to a business model that is based on solving problems and coordinating capital and other critical resources in order to create value added. 

Your immediate challenge is educational. While BP will offer you some interesting anecdotes, it is largely a group of other people new to real estate with strong opinions but limited actions, if any. 

I suggest you attend some local REIA meetings. I personally like the LA/Asian REIA that meets in Arcadia And several of the FIBI groups. Investclub for Women is near you, too and a fun group albeit rally-heavy but info-light. At least you won't have to protect your wallet from the dream merchants who sometimes turn other clubs into pitch-fests.

Check out my friends Mike Cantu, Bruce Norris, Bill Tan and Ellis San Jose. Anytime they speak, change your schedule to go hear them. 

While you DO need education, you don't need expensive seminars, at least not now while you're learning general principals of RE. 

As I have investments in all SoCal counties+ and work all 58 CA counties for 35+ years I can assure you there are opportunities everywhere. In fact, I was at a meeting in your hometown (Irvine) this past Saturday consisting of court-appointed professionals and I was the only person in attendance who performs my services. While I was a bit tired from spending the prior 5 days at a marketing mastermind meeting in Orlando, it was important to participate. 

You have a lot on your plate so get busy.