I need help. We are getting ready to list a long-term rental home out of state and do a 1031 exchange for a STR property (maybe two) closer to where we live in SoCal. Given the income potential, we think STRs are the way to go. The only question is WHERE?! We'd like to be within a few hours' drive from Ventura County. Here's our list:

- Joshua Tree/Yucca Valley - Affordable but oversaturated

- Anywhere in LA - Not allowed. But maybe there are spots I'm missing?

- Hot spots in Orange County - Not allowed. But maybe there are spots I'm missing?

- Anywhere in Santa Barbara County (including wine country) - Not allowed. Anywhere north of there is Carmel and Monterey which are probably not allowed and way outside our budget.

- Palm Springs - Most areas are not allowed. Others seem to be on the brink of outlawing them.

- Tahoe - Might be my favorite place to visit in the summer (outside of Maui), but South Lake Tahoe (CA) is not allowed. Incline Village in NV are allowed but they're outside our budget.

- Big Bear - I've never owned a property that gets snow. And the property I'm selling is constantly wet (near Seattle) and I want to get away from those issues.

- Sedona, AZ - A bit more than we want to drive (8 hours) and the AirDNA numbers are just meh. But it's a place we'd like to visit. We've never been.

- Temecula Wine Country - Wine, hot air balloons, casino, views, only 3 hours away, what's not to like? Again, a place we'd like to visit but have never been. We'd have to be outside city limits with a decent amount of land and those homes are expensive. $1.2m for a fixer.

- Thousand Oaks - This is close to home and has no laws (good and bad). It's a sleepy town after 10pm, but close to home would be a good thing for our first STR. We could afford an 1800sf house in a neighborhood, but what's the draw? It's about an hour from LA, 30 minutes to Malibu, 1.5 hours from Santa Barbara, 2 hours to Disneyland, and 30-45 minutes to Six Flags and Universal Studios. Is that enough??? AirDNA numbers are good at $600/night, but I just read a post here that said AirDNA might not be so reliable.

- Ventura - Semi-nice beach town with a homeless problem near the downtown area. Close to home. City ordinances and price point seem doable.

- Santa Clarita - Close to home and houses are cheaper than here. Close to Six Flags (10 mins), Universal Studios (20 mins) and LA (30-40 mins). Farther from the beach. Is that enough of a draw? Would you rent a house in a neighborhood with nothing particularly spectacular? School buses driving down the street? What makes it special?

- We're open to NV and AZ since they're more friendly to businesses than CA. But where? I think an 8-hour drive is our limit. Laughlin? Havasu? Scottsdale? St. George, UT? And even 8 hours feels like a lot considering we're doing STR for the first time.

Thanks for your patience if you made it this far. My brain is way too scattered for the timeframe we're under. And I realize it all sounds so doomsday. What am I missing? Are there other areas we should consider? Do any of these areas sound good to you?

Thanks for your help!

Los Angeles County, California

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