New to the REI business in Los Angeles

[Louis Ramos]

Hello, Me and my wife are looking to begin investing. We just finished reading the beginners guide from BiggerPockets and have been reading other RE books to help us get better prepared for our first REI property. We currently live in LA. Would your recommendations be to invest in our first property in Southern California or Out of State? Any guidance will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[Kevin Fox]

Hey @Louis Ramos

SoCal is definitely a great place to invest, especially for owner-occupants. 

You can buy a 2-4 unit property locally for 3.5% down, whereas you'll need 20-25%(7x as much) down for anything out of state. 

So, even if price of entry is higher, the availability of low down payment financing makes it the more appealing approach.