cash flow investment in bay area

[Shawn Wang]

Hello, BiggerPockets family! I am Shawn, a newbie investor from San Mateo county in the Bay Area. I have been reading posts, listening to podcasts and watching webinars for some time and would like to find some deal for buy&hold cash flow. Currently doing some house hacking and have ~200k set aside for investment. I have considered out-of-state multi-family but still cannot make up mind and try to seek investments that I can drive to.

With limited loan amount, I guess Oakland is probably most possible place for cashflowing deal in the bay area. Not super familiar with the area, I'd appreciate any thoughts or opinions on my concerns.

1. what areas is the best (downtown, west Oakland or east Oakland) or does it make much difference? I will probably go with multi-family. Any downside of that?

2. What about the high crime rate in Oakland. (looks like Oakland is 3rd most dangerous city)

3. How do I choose property management company, i.e. what questions to ask to pick the best one. (For 2, I probably will not manage the property myself.)

4. How do I count in eviction cost in the calculation, given the unemployment rate.

5. Should I start an LLC or umbrella insurance is enough

6. Any better/more efficient approach to get good interest rates on investment properties? What I am doing is calling banks and credit unions for their rates.

Thank you in advance!