Want to leave CA

[Chris Isaacson]

I saw a thread like this pop up a while back but instead of reviving it I want to hear if anyone has any fresh suggestions/opinions. As the title states, my wife and I want to leave CA. I feel as though even though I make decent money here we could do a lot better if we liquidated everything and moved to a less expensive area and could seriously invest.

Anytime I visit friends in different parts of the country (Memphis, Orlando for example) I can't help but look at real estate and their rents in the area. It is crazy how good of deals there are that you would never get here. In my area most investments are done off speculation and only in the scary areas do you start to see cash flow.

Anyways, has anyone who left or thinking about leaving CA have opinions or regrets?

Also, if you could choose a market to start over now which area would you choose?

[Kevin Yoo]

Chris,

I live in California and pay heavy "sunshine" tax for doing so. I invest both in California and outside of California. We invest outside of California for the very reason you mention which is to get good cashflow. But we also invest in California because good deals come to us here from operators who do well here. 

Live where you want to live and invest where there are good investments. In my opinion, living in a certain marketplace does not make you a good real estate investors. You can make great money in California as much as you can make great money in Tennessee. It is you who determine success. 

Having said all this, I am not discouraging you from moving elsewhere because that is not a bad strategy. But you will fail in any great market if you do not have the skill set and resiliency to succeed. Work at acquiring both. Good luck to you.