Long Distance REI as a Newbie

[Hannah Noble]

Hi, my name is Hannah and I am new to REI. For the past few months I have been educating myself and soaking up anything I can. I know sometimes getting started and pulling the plug is the hardest part. I want to be able to start my REI journey soon. Right now I am saving up and trying to get pre-approved so I know how much I can afford. I currently live in Orange County in Southern California, which is a very expensive market. As a newbie I wanted to start out east just to kind of get my feet wet as I'm still learning. I was wanting to use the house hacking method on my first investment. However, being such a high priced market I know that most likely there won't be much to any cash flow here. This isn't a make or break it factor for me, especially it being my first. However, I was wondering what more experienced investors opinions are on being a newbie REI and doing a house hack in an expensive market versus doing a multi-family rental property out of state in a cheaper market with more cash flow. I know there are pros and cons to both, but curious to hear what others have had success in and possibly in what markets if they are doing long distance and of course taking into consideration everything that is going on right now with COVID.

Thanks!!