Investing in High Priced Areas

[Levi Stillman]

Hello All,

First Post here with BiggerPockets. I'm trying to get together a plan for my investing journey. Is there anyone with experience of starting their investments in high priced area? If so, what was your experience? If given the chance to start over, would you rather take that money and invest out of state?

I'm on the fence about House Hacking in Orange County, CA with an FHA or using my savings to invest out of the area/state using a conventional 20-30% down payment. I know both have pros and cons, the issue right now is financing.

Right now my out of state options would be Arizona or Nevada as I have family in those areas that could possibly help me learn the markets quicker or have a realtor to help.

Any advise is very much appreciated

[Nick Riccio]

@Levi Stillman I invest in Boston, MA where the prices are really high. I really like it, but it certainly is one's choice. For me, I have local control over my properties - and with 3 properties, my portfolio value is well over $2.7M. 

I have house hacked them, which allows me to get in with low down payment. In my opinion, the low cost properties can become a challenge with maintenance costs, etc. and before you know it, what you thought would be cash flow is not.

Again, I don't think there is a "right" answer - but I do believe you can make either work!