Hello from Tracy, California

[Nolan O.]

I discovered the BP community about a month ago while looking for RE podcasts in iTunes, and now I'm totally hooked. My goal is to build a portfolio of investment properties, but I'm a 9-to-5er who's hasn't yet pulled the trigger on a first deal. At this point, I would love some guidance from the folks in this community. There's so much experience on these boards, and it's fantastic that everyone is so willing to share and help the newbies find their way. Some of the questions I'm working through right now:

• What's "the best way" to raise investment capital? I'm considering doing some direct mail marketing in search of seller finance and possibly wholesale opportunities, though I'm not interested in being one of the naughty wholesalers that the gray beards always hate on :P I've also considered pulling from my small nest egg to get started (HELOC or 401k loan), or to reach out to family for a loan, but I don't really like the idea of borrowing for a down payment to borrow. My gut/pride prefers that I earn or save the capital needed to get started.
• Should I invest close to home or go where the opportunity costs are lower? The issue I'm up against is that SFRs in my town list for $400,000 but only pull $2000/mo, whereas that $400k invested in other markets could pull $3k or $4k. I live just east of the San Francisco Bay Area, in San Joaquin County in the California Central Valley. My town, Tracy, is about 30 minutes from Livermore, Stockton and Modesto, and about two hours south of Sacramento and north of Fresno. I've considered investing very locally, in Tracy. I've also thought about Sac and Lemoore, near Fresno, and even turnkeys out of state in places like Atlanta, Dallas, Austin, Indianapolis and Chicago. 

Anyways, enough keyword stuffing ;) It would be great to connect with anyone here who's dealt with some of the questions I'm facing. Please do reach out.