Tips for out of state investing for 1st deal? CA is so expensive!

[Tanya Torres]

New to the BP Community and I have been diving in head first into research, podcasts & books to purchase my first investment property. I live in california & im wondering if it would make more sense to look for out of state properties as opposed to starting here given how expensive the market is here?

Any tips/suggestions/opinions are welcomed! Genuinely open to hearing voices of experience!

[Greg R.]

I highly recommend not getting into an out of state investment for your first rodeo. Even experienced investors can have a really hard time with out of state deals. There is so much that you're not familiar with in some far off land. And trust me, there are going to be some major differences between what you know right now and other areas. Not to mention, you are going to have to trust someone else for everything - and this is probably going to be a stranger that you don't have a history with. 

Have you considered going into a less expensive CA market such as Bakersfield? I would strongly recommend your first investment be within driving distance in a somewhat familiar area to you.