New investor moving to Bay Area

[Sean Owen]

I'm just about to move out West to the Bay Area, and I'd really like to get started investing in real estate. In particular, I'd like to buy some buy and hold rental properties with cashflow.

I'm under the impression that doing this in California in general, and the Bay Area in particular, is difficult at best (and only a crazy person would try it in San Francisco).

Just for background, I have about $80k in seed capital from buying and rehabbing a foreclosure here in Virginia. I lived in the property and did all my own work. So I have my first profitable deal under my belt, but no rental property experience.

First and foremost, I want to find a market to start learning about. I'd like it to be reasonably close (I'll be living in Marin county).

Considering my limited capital, I'll need to start in lower end areas, at least by Bay Area standards, but I'd rather not have to bring an armed escort.

Some options I'm considering are:
Oakland
Vallejo
Santa Rosa
Napa/Sonoma

Vallejo in particular looks interesting. In light of the recent bankruptcy, I get the impression that the place has hit bottom.

Can anyone offer some insights as to where I should be looking?

Thanks!