first time buyer in the San Diego area

[Jesus Martinez]

Hello everyone, my wife and I are looking to buy our first real estate property. We currently live in San Diego and would love to stay within the area. My idea was to purchase a condo and live in it until we are ready to buy a house and therefore keep the condo as a rental unit. After two days of open houses I have realized people are buying any property and placing over valued offers. Today, we went to an apartment complex that looked run down, yet the unit had been remodeled that for a second I forgot how ugly it looked from the outside. We were planning on using a calhfa loan as we are approved for 320K, but it seems impossible to find a property where I can fix a couple of things and gain equity as there seem to be too many over valued offers. I want to gain equity and continue reinvesting into real estate but don't really know if its possible. Are there any San Diego newbies here that have gained equity within recent purchases? Should I hold off until I have enough for a house and try to hack it? Thank you for your time and have a great day.