Since my wife and I would like to make real estate our full time, I would like to network with as many people as possible so we can help each other out, especially those in the Los Angeles, San Gabriel Valley, Inland Empire, and Orange County areas.

@John ThedfordYou have made this point several times on BP and while I understand your thinking, I must respectfully state that you are missing the point.Comparing investing in real estate inside of an IRA to investing in real estate outside of an IRA is comparing apples and oranges.  

The area that I'm eventually looking to purchase in is orange county, and I plan on living in one of the units and acting as the landlord.  

My uncle and father owned rental property in Orange and LA county california. 

As a broker, I have agents in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, and San Bernardino counties. 

Hi, and thank you for reaching out @Judy P.

i do go to a REI up in West Orange.

If you bought a house with a 70's orange kitchen and upgraded it, then you would have to depreciate it.  

I don't, i use existing then just draw red/orange lines.

If you're on the old site, click the link at the top orange bar and you can start using it today or go to http://beta.biggerpockets.comWe've got a bunch of tutorials coming our shortly.If you guys have questions, please feel free to ask, otherwise we encourage you to play around.