Newbie from the San Francisco Bay Area, California (Peninsula)

[Darius Falahkhir]

Hi Everyone!

My name is Darius Falahkhir and I think that I should stop "lurking" around the site and finally introduce myself! I am an aspiring investor from the the San Francisco Bay Area, more specifically, Burlingame. 

Working as a Registered Nurse, I have been completely inspired by the Bigger Pockets Podcasts, and it has shifted my direction of thinking (my ONE thing:) towards real estate investing and more specifically, financial freedom.

I currently have no real estate experience but I am doing my due diligence to prepare myself for my 2016 goal of (properly) acquiring one multi-family property. Reading anything real estate related that I can get my hands on, listening to the BP podcasts instead of repetitious music and patiently building the capital to attain my goal is what I am currently working on. 

I would love to connect with other real estate investors in the Bay Area, and Bigger Pockets has created such an avenue. I am also interested in attending any BP/Real estate meet-ups in my area, as well.

Living in one of the most expensive areas in the United States, I am intrigued by the idea of out-of-area/out-of-state (ie Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Phoenix, Arizona and Texas) investing, but am conflicted with the question whether that is the right direction to point for a First-time investor. On that note, any comments, ideas, and suggestions are always welcome!

Cheers!

[Arlen Chou]

@Darius Falahkhir congratulations on making the jump.  As @Ryan Landis had stated there are a few meet ups in the greater Bay Area that might be of interest.  Besides the one held by @Johnson H., there is also one in San Jose hosted by Jeff Pollack.  Jeff's next meeting is on January 27th.  There is also a meet up in SF held by @j martin.

I would suggest you think about the advice from @Jordan Thibodeau.  Being close to home with your first properties is a good idea.  Sacramento is an interesting city.  I have just started my recon work for the area and I have been pleasantly surprised.  Just remember that this area was very hard hit during the down turn.  You will need to take that into your analysis and balance that against your risk tolerance.  

Good luck and hope to see you around at a meet up.

-Arlen