At the moment I am closing on a 34 unit in a solid C class blue collar neighborhood at approximately $7,000-$8,000 per unit under market and rents are significantly under market too.To think, as a lowly paid Catholic School teacher with a combined family income living in San Diego,  I just started investing in a little 1br 1ba in San Diego in 2011 and now by May 31st will have 8 apartment complexes and 4 single family in NE Ohio for 122 front doors and rising on my way to 1000 front doors some day.If I can do this, anyone can!!

Are there any investors out there that invest in San Bernardino, prices seem good but I know the areas are not the greatest.

market with very low cap rates.I've placed offers on no less than 3 properties so far with a partner in the San Fernando Valley area with the goal of developing MF properties.

I'm down in sunny San Diego but coincidentally working with a referred solar project up in WA so looking into local policies. 

If for whatever reason your relationship sours, you could have a nightmare on your hands.this is easily done  its called  Tennant in common .. or TIC for short.. you could have problems though with a lender just lending to a % owner of the property or one tic Trustor.the loan can also be as to a certain % of the asset.. but that's usually someone like us that is a Private lender deal maker :)  conventional banks you would want to check ahead of time to see if they will lend on TICS this was quite common in San Francisco to get around rent control by the way.and of course on the flip side on the lending side we do multi bene loans as a matter of course in states its legal in.like in Oregon its ILLEGAL to do a multi bene loan ..

I'm looking into buying my first apartment in my hometown of San Antonio. 

Looking around on zillow in my city of san antonio and i find a house thats being foreclosed for 160k, everything looks to be in good condition.... a few blocks away i find a literal mirror image of the same property listed for 120k, opening bid at 80k except the carpets are all stained, theres a dent in the wall about the size of a basketball, grass is overgrown, theres no tile downstairs (just cement slab). i feel like this is  good entry home to start flipping seeing as though i have a comp right down the road. 

I bought a house for $30,000 in San Diego County using creative financing this summer (2017)Quick FinancialsPurchase - $286,000 ($30,000 cash to take over mortgage subject to)Mortgage - VA Loan @ 4.25% on year 3 of 30Mortgage Balance - $255,XXXRepairs - $10,000Total cash invested - $41,000Current Value - $390,000 ($100k equity picked up)Payment - $1752 Rented - $2250Here’s the Story… The lead hit via my website, the seller wanted out of his property, I hadn’t taken the lead seriously in February.

@Dan Brewer   could not agree with your points more... obviously you have experince in the space.. its those that do not have experience in the space that have a very high mortality rate as investors.Those that do well like some have posted live it and breath it.. its their JOB...not a passive investment from one's barcolounger in San Fernando valley  :)

@Jose Guevarra As already mentioned, upfront fees (except for an inspection/appraisal fee) are a red flag.