New here and looking to start either in LA or out of state.

[Monica Abeyta]

My husband and I are looking to start out in buy and hold. The problem we are having is whether or not to invest where we are or out of state. We live in Los Angeles and real estate just seems so unobtainable out here. We have saved 30k so far and can possibly double that as my dad is willing to invest with us if the deal is good. We are looking at a duplex to 4 unit buildings in the range of 500k-600k but not sure if only 10% downpayment will cut it. We wouldn't mind house hacking if possible though.

Anyone have experience starting out with low downpayment in Los Angeles? We have full time jobs and decent credit scores lowest being 700. 

I am just not sure how to start or where to look or what to look for. I am currently reading Brandon Turners book The Book on Rental Property Investing and scouring bigger pockets for more information. 

Would investing out of state be a better start since our money would stretch further? Or should we keep it in Los Angeles to property manage better?

Any advice or information would be much appreciated.

[Ali Boone]

I would say the biggest thing is to understand the numbers. If you understand the numbers and then still decide to invest in LA, then that's one thing. But if you don't realize what you're getting into with a rental in LA, especially at 10% down, you could get yourself in trouble.

So the first thing is to understand the numbers. Try this-

https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/01/1...

The first thing you'll find when you run the numbers in LA is that you aren't going to get positive cash flow. So if (when) that's the case, then you need to know how you're going to profit. If you don't know that, you could just end up losing a lot of money.

For house-hacking specifically, here are considerations-

https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/considera...

I'm in LA and most of my properties are out-of-state. I started with those, for capital reasons and cash flow reasons (you can actually cash flow elsewhere). I do now also have a duplex in Venice that is cash-flow negative, but I knew the reasons I was doing that one and where the intended profit will come from.

Hope that helps.