All Forum Posts by: Matt Gigli

@Peter Eberhardt this is an awesome and inspiring story. I too live in San Diego but can’t make Real Estate investing work for me in this market so I’ve taken my focus out of state. Hearing what direction others take when in the same situation provides motivation and additional options and ideas!

@David Lopez

With $80k and the ability to use FHA loan, why not buy in Orange County? Put down your 3.5% and house hack and appreciate your way to a gold mine in sunny Southern CA.

@Amy Hatcher

I live in San Diego as well and recently took the plunge and started investing out of state. David Greene’s book, Long Distance Real Estate Investing, is a great resource to learn about finding your Core Four. I started by focusing my attention on finding an agent, who then had a long list of people in his network that he helped me round out the team. I’m still working on the contractor part of the team… seems to be the hardest.

I find it easier to trust people who have a large public/online presence (active on BP, social media, etc). Such people make it easier to trust because they’re unlikely to be a complete scam. Knowing if they’re good is another thing though… that’s where referrals and searching their name on BP and Google can really help you figure out their reputation.

What neighborhood is this in?

@Nicole Holcomb it’s good to hear about others’ success in something you intend to do yourself!

We do plan to live in it for 2 years to take advantage of the tax benefits. We are looking along the "15 Corridor" so to speak: Scripps Ranch, Mira Mesa, PQ, Poway, RB. We're starting out with just searching the MLS but I'm quickly realizing the only things I'm finding so far are houses for sale that some bigger house flipper is trying to turn over. I thought about monitoring the rental market and seeing if I notice any houses go unrented for a long time, but that seems like a bit of a stretch.

Do you have any other suggestions??

@Kevin Petrangelo After much deliberation between my wife and I, we decided that we were going to buy a property in San Diego as a "live in flip". I am still planning to continue researching midwest markets and will plan on buying something out there (I have enjoyed learning about Indianapolis and Cleveland) later this year or maybe next year. In the short term, we will focus on a local property!

Thank you all for the input! I do have some family about an hour outside of Cleveland, and might be able to get some good recommendations for building my team. Cleveland happens to be a market I read about a lot here on BP that sounds like a good place for a rookie to start: low cost properties, relatively stable market, variety of different types of neighborhoods with different price points, good to get my feet wet.

Thanks again to everyone for your time and thoughts. What a cool thing to have a place like BiggerPockets to find others who once stood in your shoes to help make you feel more comfortable getting started in something new.

Hi! Beginner here just getting started in real estate investing. I've been spending the last few months reading books and learning, and I'm at the point where I'm ready to make my plan to get started. I live in San Diego and with only about $150k to get started, I am looking to invest out of state. My goal is to start buying long term rental properties using the BRRRR strategy.

I’m torn between trying to stay closer to home to make it easier to visit and buying in the Midwest/South which has much lower prices with easier cash flow opportunities. As a newbie without experience buying and rehabbing, I’m having a hard time getting over the fear of distance!

Anyone have any words of wisdom to talk me into a western market vs a Midwest/southern market for getting started??