Any places in Southern California to invest?

[Mo S.]

Hi there!  My first blog post!  :)  I'm new to BP -- just started learning more about real estate investments.  I had picked up Rich Dad Poor Dad a long while back, but am now getting back to educating myself.

That being said, I was curious if there were areas in So. California that people recommend?  

I was watching a video by Robert Kiyosaki who said when he started, he was looking for a low priced investment that was local to him because there would definitely be problems.  So start small.

I live in Long Beach, CA and am open to any type of properties (SFR, MFR, Condo, etc). Just a beginner.

Thanks! 

[David Faulkner]

Originally posted by @Mike Day:

Hey Matt R. Well, say you bought a home in 2006 and wanted to sell it in 2012 - I don't have stats in front of me, but you probably would have lost about 50%. If you're talking really long-term, like 15 years or more, I agree with you. But the cost of housing is at a high right now in California and there's plenty of reason to think the market may be due for another down swing. If you're ready to ride that out, more power to you. I'm sure the market will bounce back again but historically California has much wilder swings than most of the country.

 I would as politely as I can suggest that if you are not in it for the long term, then you should NOT be a buy and hold investor ... and that is true of any market. If this be the case, then be a flipper ... absolutely nothing wrong with that. If you are a buy and hold investor, though, then you need to be in for the long haul, and you need to care about both long term appreciation as well as long term cash flow, no matter what market you are in IMO. The main thing you need to worry about short term is that you are willing and able to weather any reasonable storm that life or the market throws your way ... somebody that bought a home in 2006 and wanted or needed to sell it in 2012 does not meet this criteria IMO ... that person should have never been a buy and hold investor. Somebody that bought in 2012 and wanted to sell in 2017 fared much better, but they should also not be a buy and hold investor ... I would not necessarily expect the next 5 years to be as kind as the last 5, and I'd fully expect there to be more market corrections coming at some point (I look forward to them, in fact), but over a long hold period it usually all comes out in the wash ... and in CA the long term has been lovely, and I am confident that it will continue to be lovely because people still want to live here, they are still willing and able to pay a premium to live here, and there still is a persistent lack of supply to meet this demand ... high demand, persistently limited supply has been the CA thesis for decades and those dynamics are still just as present today as they have been in the past, in fact they are even more dramatic today than they were then. BTW, if you are talking volatility, farther out places like Bakersfield, Lancaster, Palmdale, etc. ... places that tend to cash flow better in the short run, they are also WAY more volatile price wise than the stuff closer in and more coastal ... when those far out markets crash, they tend to crash much harder, which is great if you are the one picking them up at fire sale prices AFTER they crash, but not so much if you are the one who bought BEFORE ... in that case, you'd better hope that cash flow saves you ;)