., I actually generally agree with everything you say about investing in CA as opposed to going the out of state route, particularly as to rust belt markets that are flat or declining. 

The most important thing to do is to get that first property under your belt as soon as you can.

This is also a good way of finding other BP members too.Find a good realtor who understands real estate and has a couple of properties under his belt.

Currently plan on doing everything through my name until I get a couple properties under my belt.

I am a new investor myself with a whopping 1 deal under my belt, so I'm not sure I am the best advice, but I would say the absolute first step is to have a real in depth conversation with you bride to know what's comfortable.From a monetary perspective, I would buy a cheap home in a good area that needs many repairs, add your sweat equity, and trade up your home in 2 years (or re-finance and use that to start earlier).

I'm comfortable enough right now that I'd pull the trigger on a real deal if I had one in front of me I could execute on, but I'm also a believer in "bullets, then cannonballs" - I wouldn't think twice about buying a 12-24 unit property, but I'd like to have one like that under my belt before stepping up to the 50 or 75+ unit deals.

My name is Justin.I'm quite new to REI overall, but I have one wholesale deal under my belt from July 2015 where I made a small profit.

I would recommend that due to your distance and lack of experience after you get one or a few under your belt this this would be a good place with the proper due diligence if you ARE going to self manage. 

@Takeshia Martin,Could you invest in some buy/hold and get some passive income under your belt, and then switch?  

I am a 19 year old that has 1 multi family under my belt reaching out for a mentor on a house flip.