Anybody familiar with Ventura county knows that property just is not a great investment out here right now. 600K for a 3 bedroom 2 bath that would rent for no more than 1800 
I am curious if anybody is in or near this area (we border L.A. county and Kern county) has found successfull places to invest. I am thinking bakersfield. Anybody invested out that way?
Dude,
Move out of CA for awhile and search out better places. Rent your house out and live in a trash can or sth and use your cash to find places elsewhere. CA is too spendy. If I had prop there I’d sell it, and rent something meager and invest my earnings in very safe investments for three years. Then once people are bailing out of their ARM’s in CA. I’d take my money and go for the dream home in CA…600k invested in I-bonds will be 723k in 3 years…example.
hey move to michigan. we have the opposite problem. we can buy a 3 bdrm 2 bath home for 40,000. ( a half way decent one ) and rent it out for 650.00.
problem is our economy is so depressed many folks cant afford the 650.00.
just like stocks–buy low…sell high.
i would do as the previous poster suggested and maybe invest in the midwest.
jmho :
sticky situation I guess. I actually live at home with my mother and girlfriend but have a condo in las vegas, A lot in pine mountain club california, and a lot in saltun sea (spelled wrong lol) and my better half does not want to move out of Ventura. A 1600 square foot condo costs 460K out here. YIKES!!!
regarding the Michigan comment…how about offering 500$ instead of $650. That’s still a lot better than most other ratios I see. In my book, real estate investing is all about the price/rent ratio. If you can’t get the price down enough to make an attractive ratio, then its not worth it. So it sounds like MI has some good ratio’s eh?
It’s a bit of work, but you can find sites that will give you apartment rent statistics and home sale statistics. Granted, it’s always on 2 different sites. Then you compare the two and look for where the ratios are good. It’s best to have an idea though or you could spend forever searching cities. It’s probably best to limit yourself to places by you are places you have someone you can trust to help out.
does anyone know which state has good job growth and cheap real estate deal when I can break even ?
We moved from Northern CA to Tennessee last year. We’ve acquired 53 rental units so far and closing on more as fast as we can. Good positive cash flow. 
That’s funny…Rublemaker said, “Dude”!!!
I grew up in Ventura…my Lil Bro was born in Thousand Oaks, and I went to Newbury Park High. Every sentence began & ended with “Dude.”
The same model home my Dad bought in ‘74’ for $38,000…on the same street (pool & all) sold recently for $750,000!!! Dude…that’s APPRECIATION!!!
We’ve got a similar situation unfolding here in the Pacific Northwest…a perfect storm brewing. High Demand vs Low Supply. The Greater Seattle region is probably one of the hottest markets in the nation right now, and opportunity abounds.
-Infowell
Unfortunately, our market in Central WI is different, as there are no deals like that. Houses that should be dozed are going for 40’s and 50’s. REALLY junky beat up dirt basement 3 ba 1 bath are going for high 70 low 80’s at auction (sheriff’s sale). Poor condition 3/2’s in less than desirable neighborhoods needing 20 to 30 grand in rehab are going for between 80 grand and 100. The kind of house you are talking about is going for 130 to 150. Nice 3/2’s in desirable neighborhoods are selling between 180 and 200 grand. I watched a 3/2 going to sheriffs sale that the bank was trying to recover low 140’s. My wife and I drove by and thought the price was insane. The place was very dated and had a crummy design. The only saving grace was that it was on the top of a hill with a fairly good view. At the sheriff’s sale a bidding war ensued (no, no bids from me) and the place went for mid 150’s. :-\ :-\
“REAL ESTATE INVESTING WORKS ANY WHERE ANY PLACE!”
Keep that in mined.
Im in San Diego and plenty of investors that are here are not having problems making money or buying properties.
the “KEY” is buying at the “right” price, and “Motivated Sellers”.
Without those two you have no deal.
Hey, folks, there is always someone dieing, moving, losing a job, retiring, divorcing, going to jail for murder. This is how you find a lesser priced house in a higher priced neighborhood.
Instead focusing on the area, focus on the seller.
The big question is HOW do you find these people?
I have contracted on 3 deceased people properties, one guy moving back to Jamaica and a guy who had to make a 20,000 payment on his airplance which he liked more than his condo.
It is easy to complain that we can’t find those deals. It is harder to find them…but they can be found…without moving across the country.
Finding this stuff is a challenge and sealing the deal can be an art form. But that’s what separates the buyers from the talkers.
YOU CAN DO IT! (Lord knows if I could, anyone can.)
Good luck
Jeff - how did you find these people. I still find it difficult to find these preforeclosures or motivated sellers. Are you running the “we buy houses” ads?
Or better yet…sell your CA house, buy a boat, take the rest of the cash and sale up to Canada, trade your dollars for Canadian dollars. Sale around the Puget Sound for a couple of years, then come back to Cali after the market cools, trade your Canadian for American dollars and buy Britney Spears house for a bargain. Good Strategy for a falling dollar and a bubble CA market. btw, can I come?
Rublehead
Reigal.
I did have to find them. They weren’t handed to me for sure. When doing an MLS search, have your agent provide searches that contain the words ‘probate’ or ‘estate’ in the remarks section. This may require two searches. Perform this search in houses and condos and multi-families. You can also ask for searches with lease options.
I was at one complex and noticed a vacant unit with no curtains. I observed the same unit vacant several weeks later. I went to city records, got the owner info, contacted the owner, discussed his needs, made an offer and got it.
I got 3 probate properties right out of the MLS. Nicely discounted. It’s easy to trash the MLS as a source for REI deals, but when you pull out the magnifying glass, you may find some bargains.
These may not be the best ideas but they have produced properties for me so I now they work.
I still say it is not your market!!
ITS YOUR MARKETING!!!
Nah, Robb…in this case, it’s SoCal and he’s right, it sucks (and not just in the REI sense!)…
Keith
See if I was there I would focus on SHORT SALES and bang each deal for 3-5k and do 10-20 a month… I agree SoCal sucks. On the other hand when your market shifts shift with it watch what others are doing and do something different… If that does not work change your approach… if that does not work change it again… It will work…
It is your attitude and not your aptitude that will determine your altitude!!
i live in San Diego. Every 6th person here has an RE license and every 4th person is a “real estate investor”.
since i have a full-time job and can’t compete with these fools who’ll overpay for everything, I just focused on investing out of state.
I found out which state was likely to make a move next, found a good set of people who understood what I was trying to achieve and they’re helping fulfill my investing goals. I currently have 10 homes out of state. 2 are with credit partners.