Southern California real estate investment

[John Jones]

Hi everyone, 

I’m looking at real estate investment opportunities in Southern California and I’m trying to figure out which cities are the best places to start.  

I’m purely interested in total return and don’t plan to live on the property, but positive cash flow is of course nice. Particularly, I’ve looked at the San Gabriel Valley and parts of Orange County. More specifically: 

Alhambra

Anaheim Hills

Arcadia

Brea

Diamond Bar

Hacienda Heights 

Irvine 

Lake Forest

Orange

Pasadena 

San Gabriel 

Tustin 

Villa Park

Yorba Linda 

1) Do you think San Gabriel Valley or Orange or Orange County will provide better total returns? Why? Within each region, which city do you think will perform the best? Why? 

2) Do you think now is a good time to buy?