Antelope Valley Market

[Nick Coonis]

Hello, I'm a newb from Southern California, and I'm in the process of building a business plan/strategy to start investing. I live right on the border of LA and Orange County, and I know both if those cities are a tough hill to climb, especially for a newb with no money. So my question is, what is a good market in So-Cal to get started? 

There are cities near me where the real estate market is much lower than "the big city", towns like Whittier, Norwalk, Pico Rivera, etc. but these cities seem like the lower priced homes are mostly in bad neighborhoods.

My other option is, I own some property up in the northern part of LA county in a little town called Acton. While the market there is pretty pricey, 20 miles up the road is Palmdale. The market there is much more affordable, but is it a worth while place to invest? I know you can get some really cheap houses, but what's the rental market like in the Antelope Valley? I know the High Speed Rail is eventually going to have a station there (and it's also threatening to cut through my property in Acton, buts thats another story) but is that a good thing? 

By the way I'm looking to fix/flip houses for living income, and also acquire rentals, apartments and SFR's, for long term. I also want to develop raw land and build SFR's as a strategy, starting with my Acton property. We've found a builder, picked a house design, and we're about to pull the trigger on that, but it's a home for my family and I to live in. If it works out (on paper the numbers look great) then I'd like to use that model for investing. Is Palmdale a good place to build though? Not sure if the price to build would leave any room for equity in that area, but maybe it's a good market to find good buy and hold deals.

Any insight or knowledge of any of these markets would be much appreciated. Thanks! And thanks for the warm welcome to BP!

[Scott Caceres]

Hey Nick, I live and invest in the Antelope Valley. I started with zero experience in 2011 and built my way up to 6 houses in the past 3 years with a positive cash flow of 3k a month. I have been doing 20 percent down payments, with my first house being 10 percent down. Right now is still an excellent time to buy. If the numbers make sense, do it. You can't make positive cash flow anywhere else in Southern California (with a mortgage) other than the Antelope Valley. I'm sure some of you can prove me wrong about that statement about the cash flow, but I GUARANTEED you aren't anywhere near the returns I have on my investments UNLESS you are in the AV. As for finding solid tenants I have had zero issues. Majority of them commute to Santa Clarita or LA for work. I could ramble on and on about pros and cons of the AV but numbers speak louder than any drawn out reply. My last 2 investments were in August 2014 and November 2014. In August I got a detached duplex for 110k in a low income neighborhood. 20 percent down, total payment of 641 a month. Rents are 800 and 850.. netting a return of 900 a month. November I got a 3+2 SFR in West Lancaster, excellent neighborhood for 110. Payment=580 and rent is 1125 netting $500 positive cash flow. Email me if you want to chat, I think you are very smart for looking into the AV. best of luck. [email protected]