A question of strategy in 4 rental units

[David Lee Maldoon]

So I have always dreamed of owning property all over the place and renting it out with the knowlege that i will never sell it and always keep it rent it and update it continuously how much would i need to buy 4 rental units ( 2 duplexes) and fix them up from peoples experiences? what strategies and things should i lool for to determine all this? This will be my first purchase of real estate i will be buying. Also I am looking for anywhere in the state of California because i have alot of connections in various industries that have tought them. How to build the latest madated codes. Who have offered to do the work themselves if they can be the first renters. 

[Guy Azta]

Not sure if I fully understand the entire post. 4-plex properties in California these days come at a steep price. If you are going with traditional lender, you are probably looking at 25% downpayment. 

If you are looking for properties that need repair, you may not be able to obtain loan, so you may need to go creative, get private money etc. Repair will totally depend on the condition of the properties. You can get a contractor to take a look and give you a starting point. I certainly would not try to have tenants do the work for you. There are so many reasons to not do that, I think it's self explanatory. 

You can use Loopnet.com to do a quick scan of California and see what piques your interest. You can also use Zillow, RedFin and the likes. They all have filters where you can define different parameters, such as sq ft, lot size etc. Cali is very competitive. I did a quick search and in LA seems like the starting price is around $500K, even though I saw a few in the $400K range, assuming they are in not so great areas.

Even though cap rates are not heavily used for 4-plexes, keep in mind that overall the cap rates will not be very high.