Dad invested ~2009 and made good rental income in our town, impossible for me now

[Komal Sekhon]

Hi everyone, 

A bit of a unique situation. My dad invested in rental properties from 2008-2014 and made good rental income on them. Our city has now ballooned in value and no property is renting at 1% of price anymore (300k house is renting at 2k, 800k is now 3.5k). While not with my money, I have been working on the real estate business for my dad since I was 14. I've gone through eviction court proceedings, ran thousands of background/credit checks for application, made numerous leases, dealt with repairs and whole house renovations when a few tenants nearly destroyed properties, and worked with property management companies on the HOA units.

So I'm familiar with managing rentals (even remotely, as I still helped during college) and am hoping to get a good cash flow rather than appreciation. I'm 24, currently have about $200k saved up, and have talked with a mortgage lender but not finalized getting pre-approved. I'm looking to invest out-of-state for my first real estate investments and was hoping for some guidance on where? I have family invested in Cleveland but the declining population and snowy conditions makes me hesitant (lived in CA all life, no idea what repairs snow damage needs?)  

**Another aspect is that I am worried about investing my cash (currently in 5% HYSA) into real estate and then the market declines as interest rates are cut. 

[Tanner Lewis]

Quote from @Caleb Brown:

I'd house hack. You are 24, plenty of time to figure it out. After a few house hacks then I'd look at OOS markets

Finding a good house hacking deal in California is tough, and it would be more of a max leverage/appreciation play than a cash flow one. Komal, given your goals, it would make a lot of sense to invest in more southern states. I am personally a big fan of some Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Florida deals, as they are all fairly landlord-friendly. However, your best bet is to pick a medium-sized population city within those states with a lot of population growth. You'll probably find a lot of markets that match your objectives there.