All Forum Posts by: Matthew Vandegrift

Thanks for the insight Aaron! What style of housing are your rentals?

Hi Everyone, I'm looking to get started investing in real estate in the next 12-18 months. I am finishing up my degree in Phoenix and plan to move to Southern California as soon as I finish in May. My wife and I have a dream to live as close to the beach (as in on it!) in California as possible, preferably Newport/Laguna area, and I have a dream of starting a real estate investing business. I want to buy and hold rental properties; I have several strategy ideas, but one of my favorites is to buy a house that needs some work, live in it as we fix it up, and then rent it out as we move on to the next house. I'm not looking for huge cash flow, but a steady income over time that, as I pay off each house, the income will increase drastically. I know that Southern California is extremely expensive, but I want to accommodate both my passion for real estate and my family's desire to live in Southern California by the beach. Right now I'm open to anywhere within 1-2 hours of the beach. Riverside is on the top of my research list, but I've heard mixed reviews of Riverside. I've noticed on the MLS and craigslist that there seems to be a pretty good supply of 3 bed 2 bath housing (which we need for our family) in the $230,000-270,000 list price range in the Riverside area, which sounds perfect as we want to put around $12,500 down (possibly FHA 3.5-5% down). I'm also open to duplexes to house hack, but one side would have to be 3 bed plus. Does anyone have any suggestions? It doesn't have to be in the prettiest area, but safety is a concern as I do have a family. Thanks for taking the time to read!

(p.s. I don't like the idea of investing anywhere that I can't drive to in 2 hours or less)

(p.s.s Sorry this got so long!)

Thank you both so much for your posts Alfred and Zach. Is there anywhere within a two hour radius of OC that would fit into our pricing goal (we're pretty open to anywhere in Southern California)? Also, how much would you say a duplex in a more desirable area would run in the Victorville area? It seems that two bedroom apartments run around $700-800. We're looking mostly at duplexes with at least 2 bed/1 bath per side; also, my wife's mom will probably be our initial "tenant" in the other side.

Hi everyone, I'm an aspiring real estate investor finishing up my bachelor's degree in Phoenix, AZ. My wife and I plan to move to California in about 10 months when I finish. We want to settle somewhere in Orange County, probably Newport Beach, but can't afford it right now. I was listening to on of the Webinars and Brandon mentioned that within two hours of anywhere there is something that is affordable. So, I opened up my spectrum and found Victorville. The prices seem to be some of the cheapest, if not the cheapest, in Southern California, but I found that over the past 10 years the housing prices have depreciated. My question is, is Victorville a good place to start investing in Southern California? We are looking to househack a duplex to start and our goal is to stay below $135,000 housing price with around $12,500 initial investment. I ran the numbers through the rental calculator and found a couple of deals that look good on paper, but I'm worried that the prices will continue to fall. There is also a large number of vacant homes in Victorville (10%). We are looking to buy and hold rental properties, with duplexes or other small multifamily homes being our main focus. Are there other places in Southern California that are good for investors with our investing criteria? Thank you for your feedback!