​First Post Introduction From Oxnard, CA

[Johnathan P.]

Greetings to the Bigger Pockets community. My name is Johnathan and I’ve actually had an account with Bigger Pockets for a while but I haven’t been active on the site until now. Over the past few years, I’ve been traveling and training a lot so I didn’t have much time to give to real estate investing. Now that my wife and I are getting settled in one place, we are getting serious about real estate investing and getting out of the rat race. She is currently studying for her real estate license and I’ve been listening to the podcast (I have to drive a lot) for the past few months and I have learned a wealth of information from Josh, Brandon, and all the other contributors.

Even though I am just getting started, I purchased the pro membership. I figure the education I’ve received through the podcasts thus far is worth much more than that, so thanks to all who put the podcast together and participate in it. Additionally I wanted access to the calculators and previous webinars which is very valuable. Together, they are great mentors!

In the near term, my wife and I are looking for our first actual investment purchase in the Clovis, CA area. We are excited about finding a place and are already using the calculators to analyze properties.

I look forward to interacting with the BP community!

[Jeff Zimmerman]

Hey @jonathan_p, welcome to the site! I’ve been investing in MFH in Fresno since 2011 and so far it’s been great. Downtown is well on its way for revitalization but there is still a lot of work to be done. High speed rail is being built in Fresno currently and will take a while but if it works (key word “if”) it’s going to be amazing. Amazons new plant is going to do some great things for our economy as well.
There are good places to invest downtown if you know where to look. Fresno is a city of pockets, there are great places to buy in generally bad areas and vice versa, again, buyers just need to know where to look.
Clovis is often a sure bet for appreciation, it’s the nicest and newest part of town with a state ranked school district, but cash flow can be harder to get. Again, knowing where to look will be the best asset you can have.
Good luck! Feel free to message me and we can talk more!