New investor from Oakland, CA / San Francisco Bay Area

[Sim Peyron]

I'm so excited to meet new folks in this network! Putting faces and stories to all these strategies and concepts while perusing the forum as a newbie / student has been inspiring! 

I live in Oakland, CA whose RE market has been skyrocketing in the past few years. I spent the last 5 years  building a small business as the operator of an after school learning center for kids. I have been building capital to the point that I think I'm ready to start investing and could use a bit of guidance on how to either take advantage of this hot market or how to effectively invest in neighboring, more reasonable ones. I don't have a lot of first-hand experience in RE but have done a fair bit of reading and did heavy research before buying my condo and have been studying the market closely over the past few years in hopes of trading up. My plans for upgrading have been put on indefinite hold as I am now looking to put my money into investment properties. There are so many directions to go to and I have heard many different opinions on which direction/strategy to take as far as long-term goes. I'm 36 years old, probably should've started this sooner so I don;t have any more time to waste. Thank you and I hope to get to know all of you soon!!! -Sim