I somewhat disagree with others poster about "Cash flow". Yes, the property you buy right now is mostly don't have cash flow. Thus, you have to forced it via house hacking and location is a key for rental properties. And find a best lender out there to give you the best loan terms even with investor loan.
Don't rent "empty" house and wait for appreciation kick-in down the road. Be creative and create cash flow when you buy!
What you could do is:
- Buy property with value-add - big lot to ad ADU (1,200 sqft), Jr. ADU (500 sqft), convert the 2-cars garage, look for big lot to leverage SB9, SB10. The CA state already passed it, now we just wait for the city blessing then game on.
- You need to fully furnished the property
If your property is at a desire location:
1. Close to any attractions like theme parks, downtown, lake/mountain - You could attract vacationers, tourist - which is a Short-Term-Rental (STR) that rent for <30 days.
2. Close to Hospital, medical center - You could attract traveling nurses, medical professional - which is a Mid-Term Rental (MTR) and rent for 3-6 months
3. Close to business park, University/Colleges - You could attract Corp housing, Student housing - which is a Long-Term Rental (LTR) and rent for 6-12 months
4. With the Pandemic, we have another group of clients that could work remotely, like engineer, white collar, etc. - Which is Long-Term rental
And since we rent the property "fully furnished" which you could rent by the room or the whole house to command a premium rent vs. long term rental (technically an empty house/room)
** Disclaimer: I am an investor and a licensed realtor. I lived in San Diego and our investors group just bought a property in Rancho Bernardo and currently renovate it.
