Newbie investor here. Mid 40s and looking to get into real estate investing. I live in the southern CA area and prices here are pretty crazy. I'm pretty much expecting that I'll have to invest further north or even out of state (but definitely open to any suggestions of potential markets in socal).

I have about 400-600k in cash assets available for investing. I was actually in the market to buy a home for myself and my family (wife, 3 kids) and was going to reserve 200k for a dp, but my newfound interest in REI has me thinking twice about it. Not just for the extra capital, but so I don't have an existing mortgage preventing me from getting into a mortgage on an investment property.

I currently rent a home and am completely debt free. I do not own any homes myself.

I'm mostly interested in investing in rental properties and I hear multi unit..even apartment complexes are the way to go. I just wonder if that's too much too fast for a brand new investor.

I do have somewhat of a network. My father-in-law does construction on homes...everything from the ground up. He actually bought a lot out in Bullhead City, AZ and put up a small home for around 50k that he is currently renting for $950 a month. He basically knows how to do it and how much it should cost and he gets people to do the work for him (he's getting up there in age himself).

I also know a RE agent that works in the Inland Empire area. Prices are a little lower there, but just from my initial glances, does appear to be too high for a good ROI on a rental property...but she's doing very well in selling homes...was thinking of talking to her about trying to find good potential investment properties for me.

I also have two very good friends (from high school) who are willing to invest with me. One of them actually has about 6 years of experience...mostly flipping...and has done decent. Not enough to quit his day job but he's hoping to get there some day. The other friend doesn't have much experience other than having bought his parents a condo, bought their old house and is currently renting it.

My initial plan was to get started slowly. I was thinking of purchased a few smaller (around 150k) homes in Bullhead City, AZ and turning them into rentals. It's a 4 hour drive from where I live, but my FIL says it's a good area to rent and he knows a property manager and realtor that can help me out.

Then, I was hoping to take advantage of the fact that CA might turn into renter's state pretty soon (if it hasn't already) and try and snap up a larger rental property (maybe around 300k), hoping to get some positive CF and also gain on appreciation of the property itself. From there...who knows. Just keep looking and searching for good spots and deals.

The questions I have...mainly...how do investors find good areas to invest in? I've looked at city-data and bestplacestolive and looked at population growth, income, etc...but are there other resources available to help predict a growing market?

Also, should I ditch the SFR idea and go straight into multi unit complexes (duplexes, condos, apartments) if I have the funds?

What kind of ROI should I be aiming for? I've heard that anything above 10% is good. Someone else gave an example of aiming for gross rental income of 1% of the property value. If the property cost 100k, you should be getting 1k a month in rent.

Regarding purchasing a personal home. Am I correct in assuming that buying a home for myself first would severely limit my investment options? And that if I buy investment property(s) first and can show positive CF, I could still get a personal home mortgage in the near future?

I probably have a ton more questions, but it would be too many to post here at one time...just wanted to say thanks to anyone who takes the time to read this.

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