All Forum Posts by: Brigg Sabol

So far thanks everybody!  This thread has been really helpful.  I've read all your suggestions and I'm researching your advice.  Keep it coming.

To add a little more interest in the discussion check out this article in Forbes about the 20 best cities for REI in 2015...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2015/01/09...

Thoughts?

Aristotle, Lee , Neil and Matt, thanks for your input.  I'll take that into account.  Aristotle and Lee, thanks for the heads up on the reserves!

Jerry- I keep hearing about Houston.  You're the 3rd source that has mentioned Texas.  Indiana or Ohio, I'll look into it, thanks!

I have not considered Hawaii.  The real estate must be through the roof.  I'm a newbie and I need to crawl before I walk.  Hawaii is not in the cards at the moment.  I'm looking for a good spring board.

I've looked into Thailand before, and unfortunately unless you are a citizen, you can not own property there.  If I was going to stay in Asia, a house on a Thai beach would be the way to go.  Cambodia is also beautiful, I wouldn't mind living there.

Thanks Matt! My wife will stay in Japan for about a year while her immigration processes. So I have a year to "mess around" (in a real estate sense, of course). I'm thinking of trying to get that 4 plex in an entirely other area in Cal or maybe even outside of Cal (Arizona, Nevada?) Then see where I am financially, see where her visa is at, then maybe try and see if can put a larger down payment down on another FHA load or standard bank mortgage loan and see if I can do the 4 plex thing again in Torrance then.

Because I'm just starting out (and moving back to the country after 10 years, so I have no credit) I might have trouble getting a seller financed loan or another non traditional method.  Do you think a seller finance loan would be realistic for a newbie like me?

Neil- lol, I was considering taking a teaching position in Saipan, but the economy in Saipan and Guam are both really bad.  Plus it's common knowledge that the local governments are extremely corrupt.  I think it would be very difficult to live and invest in either of those places.  But I like where you're head is at!

I grew up in Southern Ca (Orange County) and I've known it's always been expensive but I never knew the true situation until I started looking for real estate there.  I grew up there, I want to go back there, but it's looking like I'm going to have to find somewhere else if I want to become a successful investor.

Joshua- Montana, eh? My wife went to Missoula.  That might be an easy sell.  Thanks!

Richard - I thought about Detriot.  It can't go anywhere but up, right?  I'll keep that in mind. thanks.

I've been living in Japan for the past 10 years and I'm moving back to Southern California on May 30th.  My wife is Japanese and through my research we have found that Torrance California has very strong Japanese community.  Our plan is to move to Torrance Ca.

As I've been looking for properties on Realtor.com and reading various articles about the ridiculous housing market situation in the L.A. area, I'm starting to come to the conclusion that this might not be such a great landing spot to begin my real estate investing journey. 

My Goal: I have about 12,000$ and once I land a job (or 2) I plan to aggressively save whatever money I can. I like Josh & Branden's "house hacking" idea, where I would buy a 4-plex with a FHA 3.5% down payment loan and live in one unit while renting out the other 3. After enough time I would try and take out an equity loan on the property plus use the money saved by not having to pay rent to invest in my next property. (12,000$/3.5% comes to about a 340,000$ mortgage)

Bigger Pockets Community, I call out to you!

• Is the L.A. real estate investing market as bad as they say?  Torrance, Ca?
• If you could move anywhere in the U.S. to start your real estate journey (keeping the above "My Goal" in mind as the starting point) where would you go?
• Is the above "My Goal" realistic?  How would you change it?

I look forward to hearing everyone's advice and recommendations!  Thanks in advance for your help!

Hank,

Thanks for posting that article!

I've been living in Japan for the past 10 years and I'm returning to So.Cal this month (May 30th). My wife is Japanese and my research has shown me that Torrance has a very strong Japanese community, so our plan is to move there. However my plan was to do a "house hack" and buy a four-plex using a FHA 3.5% down payment loan and live in one of the units and rent the other 3 out as Josh and Brandon talk about in their beginners guide. However after looking at properties on Realtor.com in the Torrance area there doesn't seem to be anything realistic I could get (that isn't a dump) that fits in my starting budget (I've got about 12,000$ now and plan to buckle down and hopefully save). After reading the article you just posted it's not sounding too likely that I'm going to find anything reasonable.

What advice would you have for me?  Should I keep plugging away at Torrance? Do you see a housing crash on the horizon any time soon where properties might become abundant and affordable? OR... As I stated, I'm moving from Japan to the US.  I'm in a position where I could land anywhere in California or the US for that matter.  I read an article in Forbes saying that Sacramento was a previously not-so-great area but is on the rise and becoming a good place for real estate investors.  What have you heard?  Anywhere in the US you know is "hot" for real estate investing?

Thanks for your time and your article post! Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated!

Brigg