CA Bay Area Real Estate Investing (Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz)

[Jonathan Pflueger]

Good Day All, 

I am relatively new to Real Estate investing and was wondering what sort of strategies people were using to invest in the Bay Area - specifically Scotts Vally, Santa Cruz ares. I am interested in all sorts of strategies like buy and hold, BRRRR, flip and so forth, but mainly I would like to buy and hold.

I have been reading and listening to as many podcasts as possible on BP but I have yet to find anything that really relates to the Bay Area. It seems like smart investors in states like Georgia, Tennessee, Montana and such, are able to acquire properties, do some rehab, and almost immediately start to cash flow... Is this possible in the Bay Area or am I way out of my league?

I may just be new to this but the real estate game in the Bay Area just seems super unique and hard to get into. I have been researching going out of state to invest but I have grown up in the Bay Area (Santa Cruz about) and I would really like to stay local. 

So if anyone has a working strategy or just any tips I would really appreciate it. 

Jonathan

P.s. The Bay Area is beautiful but expensive as all get out!!!

[Shane Pearlman]

While @Jeff B. is 100% correct about the mountain folks, which consists basically of everyone who lives off hwy 9 (felton, boulder creek, ben lomond, zayante...), bear creak and all the tiny arteries off the 17, Scotts Valley does not fall in with that crew. As someone who lived there in SV for 7 years + has rentals there, it is predominantly a bedroom community who commutes to the valley. We lived there to make my wife's commute to biotechs and eventually google easier. Rents are extremely strong and compete easily with santa cruz. In 10 years of being a landlord in SV, I have had a grand total of 2 weeks of vacancy. If you can get the right place at the right place (good luck right now, but if you can wait 2-3 years odds are in your favor), its a fantastic place for a long term hold.