Starting out in the Bay Area

[Kahleb Kelsey]

Hello all! My name is Kahleb Kelsey, I am an officer in the Air Force and was just stationed at Travis AFB in Fairfield CA. I am very interested in starting my real estate investing career, however, doing the math based on the sales prices and rents has me convinced it is going to be very difficult to find cashflowing properties in the area. If anyone has any tips or advice on trying to get started in this area and how to find properties that are good investments from the start, I would be very appreciative. Thanks!

[Michael Strachan]

Hey Kahleb,

Cash flow is definitely hard to come by in CA, but it can be done (especially with higher down payments). The advice I give to anyone and everyone who is looking to start out investing in real estate is to read up on house hacking. It's a phenomenal tool to get your feet wet in the REI world while reducing or eliminating your housing expense altogether. Read Brandon Turner's post on the topic, but ignore the numbers he is using as they will most likely be completely inapplicable for your market. Instead focus on understanding the concept and think about how you could apply it in your own life.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/2013/11/02/hack...

Good luck and happy investing!