I was an executive at a software company in Santa Barbara and the area was way too expensive to get any performance out of investments.I did study a lot of different options and realized (for me and my family) that the government is actually supporting investing in residential real estate with a lot of benefits.I first determined what I believe performance really means and concluded that for me, it means I should have some positive cash flow from day 1 after closing (or Day 1 when a tenant moves into the property).It also meant that a good tool to even see if any available deal could work was applying the 1%-rule.

I'm in Santa Barbara and just starting on my RE Investment journey.

@Barbara Teasley I answered another person about a month ago about TN tax deed sales.

Since you mentioned Santa Clara, I went to Santa Barbara county website and it explained it quite well.https://www.santabarbaraca.gov...In terms of the zoning after the split, I read here: https://leginfo.legislature.ca... "..The subdivision of a parcel zoned for residential use, into two approximately equal parcels (lot split), as specified..."

Originally posted by Barbara G.

I'm also into flipping but in the Santa Barbara area.

@Barbara Sheppard Thank you so much!

My focus is appreciation, not cash flow.Here are the cities I'm considering:- San Diego- Long Beach- Santa Rosa- Santa Cruz- Los Angeles- Santa Barbara- I know with an FHA loan, I can get 3.5% down.

I suspect the west coastal cities (San Fran, San Jose, LA, OC, Santa Barbara, San Diego) would be near the top of the list for cash flow over the longer holding period.The OP wants to try OOS. 

Regarding accounting we use Barbara Keeley CPA at Meisser and Associates https://www.elmcpateam.com/ and they have done a great job for us.Scott