Should I buy a condo?

[Stephan Coetzee]

I would like to get started in real estate. I own two properties in my home country, so I’m not entirely a beginner, but somewhat. I live and work in the Bay Area. I can buy a condo in Walnut Creek where I live for $360-$400k with $120k down. Rent for these units are about $1800-2000. HOA dues are about $380-450. Tax is 1.25%. So I’m looking at a cap rate of roughly 3-3.5%. The idea is to live in it and get all the great tax benefits, but I’m doing the analysis from the perspective of an investor. No rental restrictions is a must-have for the properties I’m lookin at. Condos are the only type of property in my price range for this area.