Looking for my first investment property

[Elias Munoz]

We're looking to buy our first rental property. My wife and I were thinking about buying our first home here in Santa Barbara, CA. Young couple (26) looking to get into real estate investing. We're thinking about getting a duplex so we would live on one side and rent the other. This city isn't cheap to live at. Homes here go around 600k at the cheapest and higher. Right now we rent from her dad at one of his house that he has as his cash flow. It's a 5 unit house and we help him manage his property. Ever since I started listening to the BP podcast and doing some research on real estate investing I started learning ways I could make it work for us to afford to buy a house here in Santa Barbara one day. Our plan is to invest in a different city that's cheaper and get some cash flow going BRRRR. We just don't know which direction to go. If we drive 30 minutes south to Ventura/Oxnard slight bigger than Santa Barbara but not as nice. Homes there go for around 400-800k homes get cheaper and it's more affordable but the traffic is horrible everyday. Will we have trouble renting since people don't want to deal with traffic? Most people commute from Ventura to Santa Barbara for work. Then if we drive 45 minutes north to Lompoc it gets even cheaper. Homes there go from 150ish- 650k depending the area. It's a small town not much to do there but it's cheaper. Also a lot of people commute from Lompoc to Santa Barbara for work. Where is the best option to invest and why? Ventura it's a bigger city and more to do but traffic is horrible. Lompoc is cheaper and no traffic but small town not a lot to do there. We got my father in law to go 50/50 on deal with us. My wife's and I goals are to invest in those cheaper city and build up our rental portfolio then eventually start investing in Santa Barbara. Or is their a better way? We're new and still learning the in and out of real estate and wanted to hear some thoughts and tips.

[Allen Maris]

@Elias Munoz, my advice is to not get your hopes up that SB will work. But if your father-in-Law is willing to put up 50% cash, you could probably find something to cash flow a little. But nearly impossible with a small down payment. But don’t give up. 
lompoc and Santa Maria are getting better. Lompoc has vandenberg and SpaceX so you get some renters there that make decent money but can’t afford nor want to be tied down to buy a place. Be carful of SM, and buy close to the college or in areas of development. It’s pretty rough outside these areas. 
stick with 2-4 units unless you find a great deal on a SFR.