Buy rental property in Oakland or Sacramento

[Cheng Zhou]

Hi BiggerPockets members,

I am new to BiggerPockets, so I want to start out by saying hello! I am located in the Bay Area and thinking of buying my first investment rental property. I have a budget around 600k, and with this number, I found that Oakland and Sacramento are two possible candidates where I can acquire a property that is in decent condition.

So my question is:

What do folks think of both areas in terms of appreciation, cash flow, and safety? Based on these 3 criteria, would you recommend one area over the other?

I guess the answer will vary based on zip codes or a specific deal. Regardless, appreciate it if someone can share some insights, thanks!

Note:

1. I definitely don't want to invest in dangerous areas, which Oakland is notorious for. But I think there are still some safe areas there based on my initial research

2. Sacramento is a pretty big area, to give some concrete area examples: Elk Grove, Folsom, Roseville are some areas that I have looked at