Bay Area Newbie!

[Daniel Wilson]

Hey all,

My name is Daniel and I am looking to get into the real estate game. Interested in investing in Duplexes or BRRRR around the Bay Area and larger Nor Cal area. Problem is I live in SF and this seems like a really daunting market to get started in. Would love to know if anyone has any general advice on what I should know about investing in this area, and would love to know if there are any possible meetups.

Thanks!

Daniel

[Becca F.]

@Daniel Wilson

I invest in the Bay Area and in the Indianapolis metro area. As far as cash flow, that will be difficult to come in a lot of markets with current interest rates. I acquired the Bay Area properties pre-2013 so in a much different market. I posted a lot about my journey.

Like you mentioned, there's a headache factor with OOS. I bought 2 Indy Class C SFHs sight unseen (video tours and full inspection including a sewer line scope) in 2023. It's been a challenging year (AC unit stolen before tenant moved in SFH#1 and attempted break in with SFH#2). I may consider doing a 1031 exchange of my Indy properties (3 total) in the future back to one property in NorCal, Nevada or Arizona. The property tax rates for NV and AZ are much lower than Indiana and historically higher appreciation than the Midwest. It's still OOS but a short flight vs. 4 hours to Indy. If you're looking OOS I would recommend Class A or B. My thought is that it's better to own fewer high quality properties than lots of cheaper ones.

I'm also considering Sacramento area with a duplex, long-term rental one side and mid-term rental/short-term rental other side and it's within driving distance. The MTR and STR would be more for travel nurses, corporate professionals instead of people vacationing. I haven't done a detailed analysis yet of Sacramento.

Feel free to DM me if you have questions :)