in town or out of state

[Jason Phu]

Hello BP fam,

I'm having a hard time deciding where to build my portfolio. I'm from southern California with approx. 300k cash to start my investment in real estate, can be pre-approved up to 900K loan. I'm interested in SFH and MFH with some cash flow and appreciation combination (will be buy and hold). Recently I'm looking in near by areas around my town (Diamond Bar, CA), it's very difficult to find anything that works. I'm also interested in San Antonio, Dallas, TX and Florida. However, I'm new to this so OOS investment would post more challenges for me (I guess). I'm looking for opinions/suggestions/ideas from anyone who has experience in investing in CA and other States to help me make the decision. Thank you all in advance!