@Chris Mason @Joe StretchMaybe Chris Mason or Joe Stretch (both lenders the CA Bay Area) wouldn't mind commenting here.

Which mortgage lender / credit union do you go to for conventional loan in San Jose / Bay Area?

I am hoping to get connected with a real estate agent in LA as I am looking to invest in an investment property (my first) in the LA (Inglewood, Hawthorne, South Bay) area.

They also take time to learn the area in more than just a superficial manner.No doubt that there are "better" opportunities in areas where the numbers make more sense, but a weekend Wells Fargo "Investor Seminar" held in the Bay Area doesn't give you all the tools you need to successfully operate in a place with which you are totally unfamiliar (personal anecdote).

I'm not a 1031 exchange facilitator, but I know for a fact that you can 1031 a pair of SFRs (Bay Area price points) into a shopping mall (midwest price point), so I can't imagine this wouldn't be possible. 

The Bay Area market is tough and we are not sure if we should keep this, keep saving, and buy more property in a year or two OR sell it now, and buy a multi family home that we can live in and rent out at the same time.

We expect to spend 3-5 years out of state for the job, and then return back to the Bay Area.We've owned the home for 4 years and it has appreciated a nice amount.

Hello BP,My name is Damon checking in from the very over priced Bay Area.

We're currently focusing on the San Francisco Bay Area market.If you’ve used other corporate housing services, what doesn’t work in your experience or could be improved?

For the market I'm evaluating for investment opportunities (northern california, san francisco bay area), none of the small multifamily properties I analyzed have positive cash flow after taking out PITI & 5% reserves (5% maintenance+ 5% vacancy+ 5% capex).