100k/y excess income - looking for RE strategy

[Rick K.]

Hi all,

I'm a 28 y/o software developer & entrepreneur. After taxes/mortgage/life/etc., I have about 100k excess every 12 months. I don't think this income will last forever, so I intend to invest all of it into long-term cash generators.

Here's two criteria I prefer not to adjust without strong reason:

1) No loans at first. I want to pay cash for my properties. This is to avoid the possibility of the investment becoming a cost through vanancy/repair/etc...

2) I'll be using a property management company. I need to stay focused on building/selling software without becoming a career RE investor (for now).

My strategy is for RE to become a "dump" of my excess money. I understand I can't be entirely hands-off, but I'm willing to pay a little more to be as hands-off as possible. I hope the fact I've succeeded as an entrepreneur shows you I'm not afraid of hard work, so to be clear - I'm looking to stay focused on software while using the profits to create more permanent income through RE. 

Here's the question:

People say I should be able to spend 50k on a property and rent it for 1k. My NOI should be about $500/month, which I think is great! But how the heck are you guys finding these places? Are they foreclosures? Am I looking in the wrong areas? I've looked all over Southern California and after reading some answers here, I think it's not viable.

So I've shifted my searches into the desert (Arizona, Nevada) and found properties closer to the mark.... Two houses side-by-side: 1 sells for 50k, 1 rents for $500 - but this still seems far off from the mark. I think I'm missing something and hoping someone more experienced can shed some light.