Newbie in San Diego with a hard market, how do I make it work?

[Summer Noyes]

Hi There,

My name is Summer and I am a TRUE newbie in San Diego. I've been a homeowner 3 times now, but never an investor so to speak. My husband and I are looking to start Real Estate investing, which can be challenging in a market like San Diego. While we've saved up, we don't have a ton of $ to drop on a property. We're looking at starting small with something like a condo to produce + cash flow and work our way up to multi-family units. Right now, we're thinking a buy & hold might be our best option as long as it brings some slight + cash flow and hold out for a little appreciation and buy down on mortgage. There's also areas outside of San Diego, but it seems like everything in So Cal is expensive. I would love to BRRRR, but right now in So Cal, that seems difficult. I recently listened to a BiggerPockets podcast, and it mentions "what bottlenecks you?" For us, its enough $ to get in the game. Hard money is hard to come buy as a first time investor in this economy as I understand it as well. Not against going out of state (within 4-6 hours drive time) to find a + cash flow or BRRRR. Any insight to my thought process would be GREATLY appreciated. Take care everyone.