Suggestions to buying home in Orange County to build equity

[Zenas Lam]

Hello all,

This is my first post so I want to introduce myself to the BP community. My name is Zenas and I currently reside (rent) in southern California. My background is in architecture and I currently work for a large general contractor in the commercial/industrial sector. I’ve been listening to the BP podcasts for a little over 3 years now and currently has an investment property in the inland empire area.

I'm looking to buy a SFH in Orange County to live in. Originally, I was hoping to do either a live in flip or BRRRR an old home, live in it for a few years, then rent it out for cash flow and do a cash out refi. But with the prices at how they are in Orange County, even the prices of old homes are too high to cash flow anything. Do you think there are still opportunities in the current market to find a fixer upper to fix up and be able to make some decent equity to cash out refi a few years down the road? This seems like the only option if I want to live in Orange County without House Hacking…

Any Advice or suggestion is welcome!