Living in San Jose, CA. Can I House hack or should I invest OOS

[Eric Long]

Hi BP community!

I currently rent with my girlfriend in San Jose, CA for $1850 and our job is 10 minutes drive. Our commute is great but been reading House hacking and I am unsure if it is possible here. Unsure if California is my long term place. 

With lower capital, I can invest Out of state (OOS). Would this be easy? How do I make sure I don't get scammed. Is passive OOS investing an option or more hands-on OOS investing the ideal way? Any tips for someone who currently lives in a high cost area. 

[Brian Garlington]

@Eric Long   I'll be blunt.....if someone says to me they don't want to fly out to a market to look around before they invest there or they don't want to spend the money on a plane ticket and hotel room to go visit then I would say you're not serious about that market. I may be in the minority on this in my thinking, but I'm basing this on my experience and what I've observed and hear from a myriad of people who have invested out of state. Try not to get to far in the weeds on analysis paralysis, landlord friendly vs. not landlord friendly, turnkey vs. non turnkey, etc until you take the most basic step of getting pre-approved with a lender first. I can assure you that whether you invest in the Bay Area, Texas or anywhere else, nobody will really take you seriously until they know you are pre-approved with a lender my man.