Is anyone cash flowing on San Diego rental properties?

[Mia Trasolini]

Hey BP!

I've been speaking to a lot of investors/agents in the San Diego market and the feedback I've been getting is pretty disheartening.  I've been told time and time again that cash flowing rental properties near San Diego are nearly impossible to find and it would be a good deal to break even and build equity for a buy and hold / appreciation play. 

Should I abandon my original plan of getting a cash flowing rental property in San Diego and start looking out of state? 

Or, if you've had success with a recent rental property purchase near San Diego, I'd love to hear about it. 

Thanks so much! 

[Lee Ripma]

@Mia Trasolini

It might be possible but it's not going to be the norm if you buy a retail property from the MLS. Those who do it are doing value-add or repositioning the property in some way. Here is the thing, appreciation beats cash flow any day, just do the math. The problem with appreciation is that you can't guarantee it and it's hard to time the market to maximize it. Many on BP say that you can bet on it in the desirable coastal cities and the long term data do bear that out. Do you think that San Diego is going to be a more desirable or a less desirable place to live in 5 years? 10 years? I see demand going up in SD. It's still cheap compared to SF and LA. I don't personally invest in SD but it's an appreciation market. So if you're in an appreciation market either embrace it and invest or go to the midwest and cash flow. I just think SD is a not a cash flow market at the time when you buy unless you do something very creative (which you could do).