Most people don't want to be landlords - especially long distance. 

Another good place to start with investing out of state in David Greene's book on the BP Book store : https://www.biggerpockets.com/store/long-distance-...Hope this helps my man!

@Neha Shah You're asking if you should speculate on appreciation, and the answer is no, you shouldn't.Lamorinda is a great area to a raise a family, but you're going to hate that commute to SF (assuming you work there).I've told several friends who were considering the same thing, to rent an AirBnB in Lafayette for a week and commute to SF and see how it is, before you buy.

RE books : Millionaire RE Investor, Long Distance RE investing (David Greene - just mentioned).

I have focused my efforts in areas that are quite a distance away and have found trouble locating and approaching those off market opportunities.

If you havent read @David Greene book on Long-Distance Real Estate investing you should check it out.

This would be a huge step up for me (going from 3 self-managed units in walking distance to this beast 3+ hours away).

Do you need to commute into NYC?

@Zach Davis No judgement here, I decided to jump straight in to long-distance investing in commercial properties in the Midwest and no regrets so far.

We are long distance investors since our local market doesn’t offer the returns we are looking for.