@Scott Stover, if you are in it for long term (10 years+) then  go for it, but be mindful that the bay area housing is at it's peak - lot of BPers are predicting/hoping a bay area housing market correction for far too long now.

Always know the area of what you are bidding on. 

When you don't, you are susceptible to being sold a property that looks like it has a correct valuation based on comps, but the comps (although they may be very close...even across the street) are not valid because they are not part of the micro-market.When you find/analyze for micro-markets, you are analyzing every property in that micro-market by default. 

It's ~2hrs away, so I'm not sure whether hiring a mgmt company is the correct choice in that scenario or not.Cashflow would be nice, obviously, but that's not my main goal.

But two things always demand attention - the desire and need to move from active to passive attention, and the need to move defensively in late markets and late investing careers.Defensive investing is a way of separating your cash from debt in a mature market to mitigate the impact of any kind of correction. 

You just have to have them fill out the correct forms.  

Hi BP'rs,I'm a bit behind on my podcast listening pace (but I'll catch up).I recently listened to couple of older podcasts where Brandon Turner had mentioned that there is a lead generation system in Beta stage for pro members.Is this correct ?

You are correct that he can't afford his present lifestyle, and so is everyone who's posted above you.

Not to say that it can't/won't happen, rather it's nearly impossible to put a timeline on it.Plus even if there's a decline some areas are seeing huge growth, so something like 30% drop on equity might only be a few years of less of equity depending on the deal.Historically we're due for a correction, but it's unlikely to be what we saw last time around..

Problem: Being that it’s a condo, I will be paying a HOA, but if I’m calculating correctly, there will be a decent positive cash flow.Thought Process: The lovely prices of single family or multi-family homes are a little out of reach right now, which is why I’m looking into a condo that I can afford.