All Forum Posts by: Jennifer F.

Riverside County really has some great deals right now..everywhere else still is high. Orange and LA County are still way to expensive for us to invest. We just picked up a 3 bedroom/2bath in Anza on 1/2 acre for 64.9k and it will rent for $850.00. We are local to the county so if you have any questions, feel free to message me. Temecula area still seems to be high, Hemet you can find some good deals under 100K but that area really has gone downhill. Check out Upper Cove in La Quinta, you can pick something up in the high 80's that won't need more than 5-10k in rehab costs, it's a very nice area.

The area I am looking at is def. a blue collar neighborhood..but very family oriented and beautiful parks all around. One thing I noticed was that all of the homes were very well kept. I think I could handle the property management for the home..but is it really a hassle when you are an hour away? I am a little scared to take on the management of the property..but would really like to save the 10%!

Thank you all for your opinions! Got me thinking..so we took the day and drove into all the area's that are in our buying range. One was SO bad that we didn't even continue to turn onto the street because the neighborhood was horrible! So I guess location IS that important!! But we did find a really nice family community after a few hours of searching that has some homes in our price range..so I looked it up when I got home..low crime, lots of close shopping and great schools! I think we will look into buying in that area! Now I need to find a great deal!! Thank you again!!

My husband and I have decided to get into REI and are looking for our first SFR to rehab with plans on renting it out and go from there. I have been reading this website religiously and have been reading alot of books. We are in SoCal (Riverside County) and there are some great deals out there. We want to stay close..our range is about an hour or so from our residence. Our only issue is deciding where to invest..there are some "not so nice" area's which we can get a SFR for nothing, and would probably have enough money to eventually buy two properties and rehab them..but if we want the home to be in a "nicer" area it will take all of our available cash. I have run the numbers and think we should invest in the "not so nice" area's..but he fears that buying in these neighborhoods will mean the house never appreciates and we will have to deal with a different kind of tenants (we will have a property manager). Any thoughts?? Thank you all so much for your help..this website is great!!

Thank you both!! That is exactly what I was looking for! At least I know the pro's and con's now. I say the home is in our "neighborhood", but it is really about 5 miles away, we are very rural so neighbors are few and far between. I figure if we do only have to put 20% down we still should have about $10K left for repairs, if we need the 30-35% percent down we probably need to look for a cheaper house. The home is only 5 years old so it should not need any huge repairs. I appreciate both of your opinions!

Hello~
We have a dilemma and would appreciate anyone's input. We are both in our early 40's..no retirement at our place of employment where we both have been for over 20 years. Our jobs are very secure and we plan on working for probably about 25 more years. We built our own home about 6 years ago and have 24 years left on the mortgage. We have been investing in our own IRA's for about 6 years and have approx. $30K saved up that is in long term CD's. We have the opportunity to purchase a home that is for sale in our neighborhood..before the housing bust this house was valued at over 300K..only built 5 years ago. We can now purchase it for in the $80,000.00 range. The rental value would be approx. $1,200.00 per month. We have been pre-approved for an investment loan through our bank..but need 20% down. Would this be a wise investment to use our IRA funds for a down payment? We do not have the cash to do it otherwise. We would love to get into investing..just not sure if this is the correct way to go about it. I have been looking at owner carries..but there don't seem to be much in our area. Would we be really killed in taxes at the end of the year? Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!