L.A. Resident Commercial Investing Advice Needed

[David W.]

Hello everyone, 

I have lived in Los Angeles since 2007and have no plans of leaving, although the state taxes are brutal. I have one primary residence and a second which is used as an airbnb in LA. For years I have been meaning to get into commercial either multi units or even industrial i.e. warehouses. 

Buying a single family residence was technically easy as I knew what I wanted, where I wanted to live so I just waited for the right time to strike. But researching for an investment property the rabbit hole pulls me in all different directions. 

First I start in LA but then can't find anything that makes sense as its highly competitive strong tenant rental control rights, etc. It is ideal to stay in LA as I am fairly handy and can fix a lot of things in the beginning or at least be present to make sure I don't get taken advantage of as it can easily happen if you don't have an amazing team formed out of city or state. LA will appreciate strong with little to no cash or even negative. 

I then see other cities like Houston/Auston, Tx, Scottsdale, Az, multiple cities in Florida and although I'm sure there are deals that can be found the negative is distance. Unless I dedicate 100% to select a city and spend a lot of time building a team I feel that perhaps I should find something drivable. But then I wonder if I find a property out of state and form an LLC then I could eventually get away from Ca state tax (more of a cpa question).

Is anyone out here that has any thoughts or is an investor with success in or around LA? Thanks for your feedback in advance.