Help me decide please

[Christopher Bierman-Gwinn]

Should my wife and I buy our first investment property in Mount Shasta, CA or Columbus, OH. 

We live in San Francisco, CA and we both work in the trades and have a couple of connections with trades people in Shasta. 

Thank you!

[Travis Timmons]

You have an unfair advantage in Shasta. Lean into that. Buying in Ohio is like playing a video game - you're just looking online and calculating made up numbers to see what looks good. I have and continue to invest in and out of my state, but buy the first one closer to home. It's better for a lot of reasons. The folks trying to sell you something on the internet probably won't say this, but you need to spend some time in your market before and after your purchase. The drivable option will be less expensive and make your life better. 

Everyone likes to crap all over California real estate and laws, but CA real estate has created more millionaires out of everyday people than anything that I can think of. Cash flow is defensive; you need to it hang on to the property, but leverage + appreciation - forced through renovation or just general market appreciation - is how you get outsized returns in real estate.