Newbie from Orange County, CA

[Brandon S.]

Hi everyone,

I hope you all are having a great start to your weekend!

My name is Brandon and as the subject post states, I am a newbie to the world of real estate. I was born and raised in beautiful Orange County, CA and I work as business consultant that travels usually 4 out of 5 work days (M-Th) out of the week. My travels range from in-state to international travel depending on the clients I work with.

My goals in real estate and finance in general is just trying to make sound investments that can give me a decent annual return (an annual decent return to me being a minimum of 6-8% depending on the type of investment). I'm hoping that real estate can be a strong catalyst and vehicle for me a reach a specific number I have set for my personal net worth and liquidity. This number is what I believe will give me the financial flexibility and lifestyle that will be desired by me and my future family.

In terms of real estate, I am particularly interested in multi-family homes and since I am working toward my first deal, I would like this property to be in Orange County so that I can possibly live in it as well with my-soon-to-be wife to gain all the benefits of owner occupied financing, homestead exceptions, etc. I'm currently 25 so my strategy will likely be a hybridized version of buy & hold (depending on how the market turns and the inevitable "life events"). I am a big fan of DIY and I know YouTube and BiggerPockets will teach me a lot!

Some things that I am concerned about (so far at least):
1. The Traveling Landlord - How to be a "good" landlord while traveling the majority of the week [ANY TRAVELING LANDLORDS OUT THERE? Would love to hear about your experiences :) ]

2. Investing in a expensive area - Finding quality multi-family homes in a very expensive area (orange county, CA) (quality = SHORT TERM RESULTS such as cash flow, tax benefits, etc. + LONG TERM RESULTS such as property appreciation)

3. Knowledge Capital - There is just so much to learn and I sometimes work a lot so if possible, what are some good resources (outside of BiggerPockets) to learn about multi-family units? I have already learned a great deal from some books I've read but I'm always hungry for more!

4. Mentor - a cousin to #3. I would love to get a real estate mentor but of course, haven't gotten around to doing that yet. Tips here are welcome!

Wow! That introduction turned out to be quite long. Thanks for those who were able to get this far. :) I look forward to becoming a more active member of this community and I thank all of you in advance for just dropping a line or even some quick tips on this initial post. Thanks!

[Karen Margrave]

@Brandon S. Welcome to BP! We too are in Orange County. We have a family business, of which our 25 year old son is a part of. In addition to reading the beginners guide, you might want to check out some of the podcasts.

Aside from being developers, we are real estate brokers too, and would be happy to help you in your property hunt, when you're ready, or get you market information to help you get up to speed on what is out there, etc.

There's someone that mentioned setting up a meet up here in O.C. in the next few months, so watch for that.

If you have any questions, or need information, please message me.