When the market crashed we were living in Shasta County, CA, and moved to Orange County, CA knowing so cal is always the first to rebound.

Generally speaking you want to avoid the frayser area and orange mound area.

We are from the beautiful (but very expensive) Orange County.

The decision to move to a lower priced market was partially based on the realization that starting a family and building a stronger financial and investing base from which to grow will be easier to do in a market like Sacramento, as opposed to Orange County, especially at that point in the market cycle. 

The market will change with the housing bubble and wholesalers will be less valuable as bank own properties "REO's" will be the low hanging fruit, per the investor buyer perspective (just like what happened in 2008).

At least 18000 square feet in Newark or union, Bloomfield, Maplewood, and Orange.    

If cash flow is your goal, you will have to abandon the Los Angeles and Orange County markets.

That said, jumping from a triplex rehab to a 5-20 unit rehab is apples and oranges. 

The numbers on this map are a mirror image of the Trulia crime maps - not much of a surprise here: rents are generally higher in Trulia green areas, then yellow, orange and red.

We love living in Orange County, but my fiancee only has a teaching contract for another year.