A little background- 7 years ago when I was 18 my boyfriend and I got our first apartment in the neighborhood he grew up in.

Looks like you have the landlording part started.I grew up with real estate: so the understanding the market is ingrained from following my mom by watching her.I read a lot of investment book, majored in finance, did bookkeeping..Worked as RE agent for a few month (Asia)What I didn't know was: flipping : had to do one to understand Land lording: my flip didn't flip so learnt land lording on the fly Buy/selling: learnt each project from everyone involved from seller/buyer to inspectorsFinancing: learnt on each project just by talking to brokers/mortgage/bankNew construction : chose to work with builder on live in flip.

I don't know NOVA specifically, but I grew up in that area, and I would *guess* that you're looking at $100-150 per square to build, NOT INCLUDING land costs.The bigger question is what kind of experience and network do you have?

My father was a successful real estate investor and I grew up spending my summers working on houses.

I would love to branch out and do more investing in other areas, but starting out, this is where my money has allowed me to invest, plus this is where I grew up.I am looking forward to gaining a lot of information on the site and networking with other investors.PS, if anyone has a property in Los Angeles, Southbay, LAX or Inglewood area that is pet friendly, preferably a house that they would like to rent please let me know.Thank you

My name is Brandon and I currently live in LA but grew up in Hawaii.

------I grew up around real estate, lived breathe it.

I grew up in south toledo and have watched over the years of my neighborhood fall apart as houses started to get boarded up and abandoned.

I grew up in a town about 40 miles east of L.A. and left Cali in 1999.

It was disappointing because apparently Derek Rose grew up a few blocks away.