I'm hoping one day to find a 67 Chevy or diamonds in a safe!!

I just joined BP, I too live in Pacific Beach, CA (on Diamond St.), and I'm currently studying to sit for the CPA exams (1st one, BEC, next month) while I'm in school.

Going a little further I would recommend checking out the Black Diamond meeting in Waltham (2nd location in Worcester), since you are interested in larger properties the topic this month is commercial financing so a good one to check out (meeting is this Tuesday).  

For example, I'll look at and do deals anywhere in RI, especially as I have some business partners in south county, but for my buy-and-holds I personally stick to northern RI in the vicinity of Providence/Cranston/Warwick just because it's closer to me.Also if you haven't visited a local investing group in our area such as RIREIG (rireig.com) or Black Diamond REI (blackdiamondrei.com) I'd recommend that too as it's a nice complement to Bigger Pockets, meeting people face to face, hearing about the latest news in our markets, etc.And check out the BP podcasts too, they're always entertaining and informative :)

There are usually several wholesale deals presented at each event, and I know tonight that there is a deal in Danvers being presented at Black Diamond (url in my signature)

You will find the diamond!

Besides those Ann runs the Black Diamond meeting in Waltham that is well worth fighting the traffic to get to.  

Search the forums for specific topics that interest you, and engage in the forums.If you are interested in free networking events, search for Black Diamond.

Here is a link for a free 300 Page book of articles I wrote on Lease Purchase contracts-strategies and marketing that I thought you folks would enjoy. http://goo.gl/EIS34PClaude Diamond J.D.

I used to like cars too but it seems like every time I started shopping for a cool car I ended up buying a house instead.There is a pretty active REIA that meets in Worcester if you google black diamond Worcester you can find it.