Hi, I am in the beginning stages of the real estate business here in Arizona, and my dad has expressed his desire to help me get started.  

On the flip side, I totally appreciate that the Bay Area is a desirable place for families to move and we are land and development constrained.  

Bathrooms and kitchens have never been updated...I attempted to price accordingly for some equity knowing some improvements will be desired, but not a necessity.

We passed on a 4BR house that was very desirable just because of the numbers alone.

You don't necessarily need to move to a less desirable and cheaper market to do it either.

There are very nice, desirable houses in decent condition availabe right now at a good price.

Hi everyone…I see people on the boards here speaking about paying off mortgages on their rental units, as if that is a desirable goal.

Hi @Morgan WellsI will give you my thoughts.I think this has to come down to personality and your desires.

Otherwise, my recommendation is to really start digging in to what makes a property a great deal (learn how to analyze rehab costs, ARV, neighborhood desirability, etc) and when you start finding some good deals, find a local investor you can partner with on them.Many investors don't have enough deals in the pipeline, so if you can fill that void, you are likely to be considered a valuable asset to investors and they'll be happy to partner with you (or buy the deals from you).

Also, I picked a liberal arts school so I could take any classes I desired and was able to expose my mind to lots of interesting disciplines.