New to Real Estate Investing, but ready to learn! & buy a out of state rental!

[Dennis Lin]

Hello all,

Ive been creeping on this forum for about 4 months now and decided to finally make an account today. I'm 36, I've own a primary for about 8 years now in California (Los Angeles county) and i recently (2021) completed an ADU build in my back yard that generates a nice monthly income. (ADU was paid in cash)

Before doing some reading - i knew REI was more than what i thought it would be. To me, i thought, buy a place, make sure your payments are lower than your rent to the point you can pay a manager, and pocket some money for repairs, and BOOM, you're in.

Ive discovered its a lot more than that, and to be honest, its scared me out of investing. However, life is a risk! I have a decent chunk saved for a 25-30% down payment (depending on cost of house), and ive been looking into Arizona (Buckeye) or Nevada (Henderson)

Nevada - I have a friend/acquaintance who is a real estate agent out there. I figure i can get some good information from him in regards to the area I'm looking to buy in Henderson, have him refer me to a good property manager and go from there.

Arizona Buckeye - A co worker of mine bought a house out there about 10 years ago, and has since paid it off, and has been generating a decent cash flow. He currently has been using the same property manager for 6 years with no issues. My plan was to buy something around his area, using his real estate agent, and piggy backing off his property management as well.

I am open and would love some advice of which direction i should go, what pitfalls await me and what i should expect and avoid. Ive never listened to a podcast in my life, but i would love some suggestions for podcasts, and literature that can expand my knowledge in this area. 

Thank you all in advance for any comments, and im glad that i made an account!