Investing in Lake County, California (Kelseyville, Lakeport, Clear Lake Riviera)

[Thor M.]

I am interested in buying multi-family (2-4 units) properties in Lake County, California. Does anyone have experience investing in this market? My main question is about the rental market demand given that there is no major industry in the area. I know there are casinos, wineries, and agriculture - does this create enough rental demand to ensure there won't be long term vacancies.

[Orion Walker]

Hey @Thor M., I'll jump in with some thoughts here to see if we get a conversation going. If you do some searches you'll see that the pros and cons of Lake County have been discussed a fair bit here by some knowledgeable folks. Access, jobs, and drugs are your main challenges. The local opinion around here is that it is very easy to buy in Lake County, but not so easy to sell, and not so easy to hold. On the positive side you have some beautiful areas, and prices are still fairly low. I've been watching Lake County pretty seriously for the last year. I've almost bought a couple deals but so far nothing has quite fallen into place. My general take on things right now is that prices seem to have gone up quite a bit in the last year. I'm not seeing a whole lot on the mls that gets me very excited. I was looking at a duplex a while back that had decent numbers, but standing on the back porch you could see pot gardens on both sides. That put me off a bit. I'd say there are deals to be had in Lake, but you might have to make a bunch of low offers, or find something off mls, to do very well. And as with anywhere, a lot can change from one street to the next. If you are planning to have a management company handle things that's a consideration as well. Not a lot of options, and can't say I've heard anything too great on that front. Anyhow, I could go on, but I'll leave it there for now. Maybe some other folks will jump in with perspectives. I'll also shoot you a PM.

Cheers.