Advice on path to take

[Ather Rizvi]

Hello All,

After spinning my heels for months and looking at different roads, I am at a point where I could use a little guidance in the real estate investment world. Here is my situation:

I live and work in the bay area as an IT professional making a decent income but I rent my home as I cannot afford to own one in an area where my kids go to school. I have about $220k saved up from previous sale of a home which I can invest. Here is what I am thinking are my options:

1. Buy and sell (flip) homes for a profit. 

Challenge 1: Extreme level of competition. Many investors already doing this who have tons more cash and do this full time.

Challenge 2: Finding homes below market is next to impossible. Homes on MLS are priced at market value and sell for over market value due to the competition.

2. Buy land and build homes like many other builders

Challenge 1,2,3: Needs more capital and strong team and full time involvement to be successful.

3. Buy Foreclosed homes from trustee sale auctions.

Challenge 1: Hard to compete with investors with deeper pockets

Challenge 2: Limited time to work and research titles, properties.

4. Buy a home and rent it out

Challenge 1: Slower turnaround, at this stage of my life, I would like to build a retirement nest egg faster as I am almost at that stage.

So there you have it. It would be great to get opinions and feedback on the above options or if there is anything else I should consider.

Thanks very much and all the best.

Ather Rizvi