OOS investing. What states outside CA are good to invest in?

[Rochelle Duong]

Hello!

I hope you all are doing well during these times. I made it a goal for myself each day to practice running numbers in order to finally take action on deal analysis. If any of you are currently investing out of state from California, what states are you currently looking at and what criteria did you guys develop in order to choose that market? 

And about how much capital would be a good start for a down payment if you didn't purchase the property fully with cash? I felt $25-30k was a good cushion to start out with before I look into other ways to creatively finance the rest. Thoughts? I'm saving up as much as I can right now, but due to the whole COVID situation, my reserves aren't building up as quickly as anticipated so I've been feeling in a rut lately. 

Any advice on building a team out of state would be helpful too! (in terms of who to look for, how to network when I'm slowly saving up, what questions to ask etc)