South Carolina Rental investment

[Monica C.]

Good morning All! I am construction pm based in California, looking to move to South carolina(family out there is getting older). I would like to secure 2 LTR in next 2 years so I have some established cash flow when I move to South Carolina.

I just had my annual appt with my tax guy and he advised now is a HORRIBLE time to get into real estate and that I'm better off in stocks. I have no desire to mess with the stock market and every desire to renovate distressed housing as my new dayjob in South Carolina, since I already work construction (total passion of mine) and have a lot of carpentry skills required for building sweat equity.

Question is, should I continue to seek out deals to get this process started (buy in next 6 mos) or should I sit on my savings another 6 months and reevaluate? I have 30k sitting in the bank, 710 credit score, 18% DTI, and the markets I'm looking into now are Hilton Head Island, myrtle Beach, Charleston and Columbia (inland).

He also advised that any long distance property manager is going to screw me over and honestly that really took the wind out of my sails hearing that.

If anyone has referrals for reliable, productive property managers and realtors in these markets, that would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance for your time and sharing your knowledge.

Kind regards,

Monica