While I would never tolerate negative cashflow, if you have bought in a market like the SF bay area that has strong appreciation cycles, your perception on minimum necessary cashflow profits might differ.

If the expectation in the market is to supply appliances (like for my Bay Area rentals), I need to keep appliances in the house for the next tenant.

If you find any properties in the East Bay, send them over!

I live in California but does not have to be from the Bay Area.We are starting our new venture and I want to start off with the right structure with the right person to give advice and do the books.Thank you for any and all your recommendations.Best, Shane

--------------Lemme let you in on a little secret- say you buy an SFH or 2-4 units in Appreciationsville(TM) and it doubles in value in 10 years (sounds familiar, Bay Area and costal SoCal?)  

The south bay is indeed a tough market for new investors, but the opportunities are out there.

Ideally someone in the north bay, Santa Rosa... but I could do east bay, or working with someone remotely could work too. 

Hi BP folks,My husband is in the military and we are planning to begin our real estate investing endeavors with an owner occupied multi family unit somewhere in East bay (Bay Area, CA).

I have a car wash, lube center, detail center and self service bays when originally purchased appraised at $1M "AS IS",  it was a closed building.

After a year, the Bay area's rent skyrocketed.