New member from San Diego, California

[Michael Conway]

Hey All!

Just wanted to take a minute to introduce myself on BiggerPockets!  My name is Michael Conway and i'm a native Seattle resident who has settled down with my wife in beautiful San Diego, CA.  I work a full time job as a building commissioning agent, essentially working on commercial energy projects and new construction.  My wife Joanna is a commercial property manager and licensed real estate agent, currently managing close to a million square feet of class A office space.

We recently bought our first home, a single family house in the Talmadge neighborhood of San Diego.  Our work backgrounds and general interest for real estate has led us towards the goal of real estate investing.  We have been soaking up so much knowledge on this site, it's been incredible, but we still have a LOT to learn.  I would appreciate any tips/tricks to help us get into our first investment property in this tough southern California market.  Looking forward to linking with local investors and real estate professionals in our area.

Thanks!

Michael Conway

[Daniella W.]

@Michael Conway Welcome and Congratulations on your new home. Talmadge is one of my favorite neighborhoods in San Diego! 

My tip to investors - assuming buy and hold - is to go multi-family in a C-D neighborhood. Those areas tend to have the best "rent to value" ratios. For example, a $600,000 4-plex is going to provide about $4,000 of monthly income in Spring Valley and the surrounding areas (east). Whereas $600,000 by the beach may only get you a duplex that brings in rents of about $2500. So there you see the difference. Just my 2 cents! :)