In the slightly same path 3 years later. Where to begin?

[Shri Kanase]

Hey everyone,

For those that are unaware, I had posted a post 3 years ago about having $100k in cash at 21 years old and wanting to get into real estate but live in Southern California with no ideal properties. (check out my last post)

Flash forward:

I'm 24 now and while I didn't buy a property as of yet, I have $300k-ish in stock investments and still that $100k in cash tucked away. I still live in Southern California but seriously want to begin investing now in real estate.

I'm looking at out of state but that brings a lot of new questions I didn't think about before. I would seriously appreciate some guidance on this:

1) How do I choose the ideal location in the entire USA since I can do out of state investing?

2) Once I decide on a location, how do I move onto the next step?

I would seriously appreciate some insights on this. Thank you!