Newbie from Los Angeles, CA?

[Reaz Ahmed]

I ended that with a ? since I'm unsure if I qualify as a newbie. Outside of my residence, I've tried and tried to invest in LA over the years, including pooling resources with close friends, but have had no such luck. It's too expensive!

I've decided to go out of state as a result. Two years ago, I took on a very risky deal in MO, which turned out to be a worst case scenario for me, but after all the headaches, things have settled after a year. This year I purchased 3 additional properties in MO, all of which are doing well. I've never been to MO by the way.

Now I'm looking to expand and researching TN, NM and IA for my next property. Finding it challenging on choosing where and keep wanting to go back to MO to ease. But I want to diversify. I also have a few SFR homes in Las Vegas, but values are on the rise and don't see finding anything there in my budget.

Another struggle I have is deciding between SFR and multi-family. Two of my properties are 4-plex and I like the comfort of always having income coming in when there's some vacancy. At this time, I'm leaning towards only purchasing 4-plex properties going forward. I would like to look into 5-12 units as well, but not fully aware of the additional responsibilities and requirements that come with them.

I'm hoping to find some answers here and possibly to connect with some people who will help me choose wisely.

My personal goal is to replace my current income with rental income cash-flow within the next 2 years. I currently work in the Accounting/Finance field.