Newbie from Davis, CA

[Natasha Bee]

Hi, I'm Natasha O'Neil. I live in Davis, CA, where my husband and I just bought our dream home in June 2014 after selling our first home in Berkeley, CA that we owned for just 2 years...we had put in 3.5% with an FHA loan and eloped instead paid for a fancy wedding (much to the disapproval of my mother-in-law). I remember we were 3 months away from the wedding date and were just about to send out the invitations and I was freaking out because it was going to take all of our measly savings to pay for the wedding. It was a rainy day exactly 3 years ago during the final playoffs for the superbowl when we went to open houses and were basically the only buyers out looking. We bought a flip from a flipper who had it on the market for a few months and didn't want to hold onto it any longer. The SF Bay Area market shot up and the value of our home increased by 50% in 24 months. It was crazy. At this time we decided to relocate to Davis, CA since we had just started a family and were looking for a nice family home in an excellent school district. Also, I was nervous about a bubble popping so I wanted to just collect my cash and run! Now that I have a little money left over, I want to invest it into rental properties. I am looking to start with 1 rental in the Lemoore/Hanford area because my dad lives near there and is pretty handy and can help with the management part, since I am 3.5 hours away. I grew up watching my dad buy foreclosed fixer uppers which he held and self managed and still owns 20 years later and he uses as supplemental income. I'm looking for my first rental tomorrow and I hope to have 1-2 more in the next five years. I work in the biotech field and hope to be able to retire in my late 40's...or in about 15 years.