New Investor in SoCal

[Jeremy Dube]

This is a multi question post, and ANY info will help...

I bought a single family home with VA Loan in Chandler AZ with every intention to stay in it. I got a tremendous opportunity in CA, so moved there again. I now have tenants (22-24yr old family members) and a 1 year lease. I am losing about $200 month (I pay pool maint and yard maint, as I know that they won't). I will leave this situation for another day....sigh....

I want to start investing, in AZ (Phx) or CA (San Diego/LA area). With the super high costs in CA, does anyone recommend not buying right now, as deals are hard to come by? I mean, 20% down in AZ is muuuuchhhh different than 20% in SoCal.    Does anyone find affordability on property in SoCal to be an issue? Should I focus in AZ? Anything helps.....

Oh, I have decent credit, and 0 debt.