New to Los Angeles Real Estate - Need Advice!

[Cody Mau]

I'm brand new to the world of real estate investing and am looking to get started with investing in the Los Angeles market. While I'm most interested in starting off with renting single family homes, I've heard its difficult to generate positive cash flow from rentals in this market (not sure if this is because of the high entry cost to LA real estate?). My alternative strategy would be to buy and hold a property in an up and coming city/neighborhood and live on the property for a few years. I'm hoping a few of you guys can share your experiences with these strategies. Although every situation is different and the possibility to succeed using either strategy is possible, I'm curious to hear the opinions of experienced investors to form a realistic view of the market before I go ahead and purchase my first investment.