All Forum Posts by: Mike Paolucci

Wouldn't really focus on finding a market if you're not ready to buy. 

Your time would be better spent doing research and figuring out what niche you want to focus on (single family / small multi-family / house hacking...etc) and what your budget is going to be. 

Hey Jeffrey, congrats on taking the first steps in your investing journey. I was born and raised in San Francisco and started investing in 2021 out of state. 

Make sure you attend some local investor meet ups. Those are great ways to get first hand info from investors. As lots of questions and take lots of notes. They'll give you some great information on things to look out for both in property and tenant selection. 

Take your time researching and then once you're comfortable, start trying to identify a market you'd like to invest in. I chose out of state because it was cheaper entry points with positive cashflow from day one. The cashflow won't be life changing right off the bat but it's key to start your investing journey not running a negative (in my opinion.)

Happy to connect and answer any questions you might have. 

Hey Matt. Glad to see another SF native getting into the game. Attending local meet ups are a great way to gather more information from people with first hand experience. 

Also think about out of state investing. Lots of good deals out there in other states that will be cheaper to buy with much better landlord laws than California (one of the big reasons why I chose to invest out of state). 

Hey Abel. You're on the right track! I would suggest spending about a year or so on BP as well as listening to podcasts / reading books on everything ranging from financing to taxes. Local meet ups are an awesome way to network and pick investor's brains on how they got started and mistakes/hurdles they've encountered. 

With your background in the trades, you're already ahead of the game for majority of people looking to get into REI.

When you're ready, start trying to narrow down what market you want to target. I'm born and raised in San Francisco and ultimately chose to invest out of state in Ohio. Chose to do that because it was more affordable to buy properties and easier to scale over time. 

Let me know if you have any questions. Happy to help out and good luck!

 Hi Rahul. I was born and raised in San Francisco and ran into the same issue trying to find investment properties when I started. I ultimately chose to explore markets out of state and settled on Columbus, OH. I've had a pretty good experience so far and have gotten a good combination of both positive cashflow and appreciation. Entry prices are a lot cheaper and the numbers still work, even with interest rates where they're currently at. 

California is also not the most friendly state towards landlords. I have a friend who owns a triplex in the bay area and his tenants stopped paying rent all together and he hasn't had much help from the courts in getting the tenant to pay. I also did some property management in North Beach, SF and it was just as difficult due to the tenant friendly laws/courts. 

Happy to connect and answer any questions you might have. 

Hey Justin, congrats on taking the first steps on your Real Estate Investing journey. I'd recommend attending and networking at some local investor meet ups. Those are great places to pick people's brains and see how they operate. Also listen to the BP podcasts and keep doing research before you really dive in. 

I would start by attending local meet ups and networking with other investors/agents/lenders there. Those are great ways to see what other people are doing, where they're investing and get a lot of your questions answered. 

@Alex Clark if you're open to out of state investing, check out the Ohio markets (Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, etc.) 

Happy to connect and answer any questions. 

Hey @Gilad Lifshitz 

You'll have a tradeoff in any neighborhood you choose to invest in. I have 3 properties in Columbus in C class that have done pretty well for me. Tenant wise, you'll run into bad tenants, no matter what neighborhood class you choose to invest in. I also have 1 duplex in an A class neighborhood and inherited tenants that I ended up having to evict.  It all comes down to how well your Property Manager will be able to vet your tenant applicants and ultimately who you as the landlord choose to rent to. Comes with the land lord territory in my opinion.

Building the right team (core 4) will be your best friend as an OOS investor. 

Happy to connect about my experiences in Columbus and answer any questions you have. 

Just sent over a short list.