All Forum Posts by: Bernard Royal

@Dan H. I really do appreciate the detailed feedback. I would say I am somewhat educated on some of the differences/ requirements when going 5+ units and also can strongly agree on the significant CA property appreciation.

I'm curious as to what lead you to really focusing on the Poway, Escondido, & Rancho Bernardo markets? (Not that I disagree those are strong markets but would love to hear your "why")

 Hi Meenah, to clarify we currently have about 50k in capital and looking to save more. Our thoughts were that 50k would give us about 250k in purchasing power (20% down of 250k investment). Obviously this is not taking into account also having money for repairs, vacancies, etc. hence why we are still defining our criteria and establishing our target market/ area.

Hey guys,

Thanks a lot for the responses. Keep em coming! 

So I mentioned the 50k comment moreso so you understand where we are at currently. We were planning to save a minimum of 70k before starting (I work as an executive recruiter and my wife a cardiac nurse, therefore raising capital can be done somewhat quickly.)

But a lot of you are saying we should at least save 100k before getting into the multifamily market in FL?

Interesting you say that because we were actually looking at Ocala and Mt Dora areas as well.

If you don't mind me asking. What made you decide on FL  compared to other markets?

Hi All,

I want to first start out by saying thank you to the many of you that I have had the chance to connect with through Bigger Pockets, both over lunch/coffee and here online.

With that being said, over the past two years, my wife and I have virtually eliminated all of our "bad" debt and currently saving capital for our first real estate investment purchase.

We have truly been committing ourselves to better understanding the in's and out's through our own research and are getting much closer to finally taking action.

I am from San Diego, recently moved to Orange County, and I'm sure as many of you know the entry level capital required for investing in CA is quite high due to the cost of living (I could be completely mistaken as I only know the OC & SD market to an extent). We also have extensive family members out in Jacksonville and Ft. Laurderdale areas therefore after much research, thought about starting our venture out there.

At the same time I would much prefer to start in CA, and have an acquaintance that is heavily in the LA market. Long term game, we are looking to really target multifamily properties for long term wealth accumulation and cash flow, but I don't see how that could even be remotely possible in the CA market without substantial starting capital.

Some of my other thoughts creating our indecisiveness include:

-Despite the amount of research and networking we do, would out of state investing for a beginner not be advised?

-If we did start in the CA market. We thought condos may be a good entry point due to lower entry capital required and not needing to worry about some of the larger expenses like roof, etc due to HOA.

-Is FL even a good market for a buy and hold strategy? We ideally are thinking of multifamily investments of concrete construction toward the more inland area and the Daytona to Jacksonville stretch. I heard the insurance can also be a real pain due to the hurricanes etc.

Anyone with experience in either/both the FL & CA market that can weigh in on this? I guess what I am asking is.... what is your take on where to start in buy and hold investing in CA or FL and why?

We currently have about 50K saved up for our first purchase but want to be sure to do this right and not rush; therefore would love to get some of your thoughts.... thanks!

Would love to attend!

Would love to attend!

@Jo-Ann Lapin I've seen your group before on Meetup. When is the next gathering?

I want to say thank you to all of you thus far and keep the advice coming! I woke up this morning to all of your replys realizing how much of a support system I am so fortunate to have here on bigger pockets and in San Diego/ Orange County alone! As you can tell I am quite new to the page so don't know how to reply to a lot of you on here but I have sent a couple of you private messages sending my thanks. Would love to network with many of you in the OC area and pick some of your brains in exchange for coffee or lunch my treat. Thanks guys you have no idea how much this has helped.

Hello! First and foremost I want to say how much I appreciate all of your advice ahead of time. It has been about 2-3 months that I have been obsessing over the knowledge and practice of real estate investing. Basically to make a long story short I recently just moved from San Diego to Irvine California for a new job opportunity in which I will most likely be making lower six figures at start, and at the moment do not have any capital to invest. In a years time I'm hoping to have a decent down payment to invest into my first place to live which I have been extremely interested in perhaps a duplex or triplex using an FHA loan as a start to my long term investment career. Now a lot of the books and other material I read, when showing examples of situations of certain purchases I easily know they are not speaking of these purchases in San Diego or Southern California really in general as the price is dramatically different than the price point of many So Cal real estate. I mean many duplex, triplex, foreplex in my area are easily 600k-2m which is almost discouraging for a beginner investor as myself. I mean I'm not to sure what to even do at this point. Not that I wouldn't be able to afford it but that would take much time as well as pretty creative financing to even begin to my understanding. Any advice PLEASE would be absolutely great THANK YOU. (Excuse spelling or grammer as I am currently squezzing this post in while at work on my phone)