Best cities for RE Investing in Southern California

[Dale K Poyser]

Hi BiggerPockets Community - pretty new to the site and forums. I am not sure if this has been posted already, if it has then my apologies in advance and please point me to that thread.

I've been looking at different RE markets in Southern California, and so far Riverside and Moreno Valley seem like the cheapest options for investing in some rental properties. My real estate agent suggested that Riverside/Moreno might not be a good option because of high taxes, is there any truth to this?

Are there any cities in or close to Southern California that are good for the newbie investor just getting started in rental properties? I think ideally Single Family Residence is where I should want to go, before moving up to multiunit properties, but I'm new so I could be wrong in this approach. Would condos be a better option to avoid high ticket maintenance items like the roof and garages, landscaping etc?

Look forward to the replies.