New To Real Estate Investing And Stuck With a Dilemma

[Austin Cai]

Hey BP Community!

I've recently become intrigued in REI and want to include it into my investment portfolio as a way to set myself up for the future. I've read several books and have browsed the forums (awesome discussions), but am stuck in a situation of what path to go down. In short, I live in the Bay Area and have debated whether or not to invest within the area or go OOS. I've seen a lot of opinion for the pros and cons of going OOS, and personally, if I could choose, I'd rather stay within California. That, however, brings me to my main issue of capital. Since I currently live in my own house that I pay mortgage on, I could potentially do a cash out refi which would allow me $200-250k cash to use for investments. However, looking at the price of properties in the bay, I find it almost impossible to have positive cash flow as I would have pay for the mortgage on my primary house and that of my investment property, which rent would not be able to cover. So I'm stuck on what/where I should pursue, if it's an apartment/townhouse instead or broaden my search elsewhere.

Any advice and guidance would be much appreciated! I would love to connect with you all :) 

Best,

Austin