Investor from Agoura Hills, CA

[Shubair Humkar]

Hi,

My name is Shubair and I am 27 years old. I was born and raised in the greater Los Angeles area and graduated from university in 2012. I run a retail cigar shop in near by Calabasas and have been able to purchase 2 rental properties since 2010. My wife passed her real estate exam recently in hopes of utilizing it to our benefit in future real estate deals (though she has not yet picked a firm to work with). I was doing research on what steps I should take next with the way the market is now and I ran into bigger pockets. I'm hoping through the meet ups in Santa Monica and Thousand Oaks, I can find a mentor who can steer me in the right direction. I recently had a newborn son and with that I sold the rest of my retail businesses to focus on my family. Now I have one location left and I'm trying to find the best way to invest the left over proceeds.

Current dilemma: I have a rental property I purchased in 2010 for 225k (mortgage of 150k left) and a renovated comp sold for 425k. My mortgage is 1,300 all in and I rent it for 2k. The neighborhood isn't the best, so I'm trying to decide if I should 1031 it into a better property in a better neighborhood for my family and I to move to or use my savings to acquire another home to live in. I'm worried of spending my funds while the market is as high as it is. I figure 1031ing is my best bet, but at the same time I get great cash flow currently.

To 1031 this property and get top dollar I would need an honest and fair contractor. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Also, if you have any suggestions that are must read material to educate myself in real estate investing, I'd really appreciate hearing what those are. I still consider myself a newbie and I'd like to limit my mistakes with the proper education. 

Thank you for your time.