Long Intro - Done with CA, heading to AZ

[Michael G.]

Hi,

My name is Mike and I've been lurking around on BP for quite a while now and am ready to start my RE ventures.  I've lived at the beach in Newport Beach, CA for 24 years as a renter, the last 12 or so waiting/hoping for CA to come down into my league like it was in 2000-2004, but obviously that hasn't panned out : '). It hasn't been all wasted time, ~15 years without a rent increase so I've had a fabulous place on the beach at quite a bargain, but I'm getting restless wanting to do something in RE and this part of CA is clearly out out my league. Second factor is that they are selling the building I've been living in, and I know that as soon as it sells, my rent will double or triple, and I'm not going to do that. I'd love to buy  the building (mixed use retail, residential, office), but they want $2.5M for it, and it currently cash only flows about ~6K/mo. It could barely work as a summer weekly rental, but $2.5M is too big a chunk for me, and I think that most of southern CA is too big a chunk for me, so I'm moving on....

About two years ago I bought a SFR just outside of Sedona, AZ - paid cash for it and been living there part time. I REALLY REALLY like the idea of no rent/no mortgage out there, AND... I can get into a ~4 Plex in Prescott for $300-$400K, which is more my level. So next month I'm pulling up stakes in CA, giving up my rental on the beach, and moving to AZ full time and will be shopping for multi family building. I've got a decent pile of cash to get started, so the only thing left to resolve is that prices, which, at least for SFR's, are right back up at the 2007 level where it all fell apart last time, and AZ got hit really hard.  On one hand I'm tired of waiting to get this RE thing started (I'm 49 and not getting any younger), but on the other I'm not excited about buying at a relative peak in the market.  Either way, I'm still moving out to AZ because I'll be able to bank around $40K/year over living in CA, but getting started with something in RE investment is the other half of my motivation for leaving CA.

Anyway, long intro and thanks for listening.  I'd appreciate any perspective you could offer, or if anyone reading has any thoughts about multi family or commercial in the Prescott or Flagstaff area I'd love to listen.