25 year living in poverty in the Bay Area, need help escaping it. (Portland: rent, condo)

[texasdiver]

Honestly if you are young and just trying to get ahead you would probably be better off looking to Texas, esp the DFW of Houston areas. My wife and I recently moved back to the Northwest from Texas and we like it here but for someone young and without ties you will find it easier to get ahead in Texas. More jobs and lower cost of living.

[Perma Bear]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

Honestly if you are young and just trying to get ahead you would probably be better off looking to Texas, esp the DFW of Houston areas. My wife and I recently moved back to the Northwest from Texas and we like it here but for someone young and without ties you will find it easier to get ahead in Texas. More jobs and lower cost of living.

And more heat to die from

[Perma Bear]

Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell

You will have better results from your South Carolina post. Housing in the South is still pretty inexpensive compared to Oregon.

Oregon is cheap as hell compared to where I'm from.

[ccjarider]

look at real estate crowdsourcing now.
No need to limit yourself to A piece of property anymore.
Invest in direct real estate equity or loan your money out at 9-10%.


Other option - I assume you are fully funding your ROTH IRA from other funds. If not, use these funds to do that first.
Despite fact that ROTH it is retirement money, it is yours tax free after five years.

Unless you have some experience _DO NOT Be a long distance landlord at your first excursion into this - seriously, you don't want to deal with what you are going to have to deal with without some experience.

There are better smarter ways to make $.

[Perma Bear]

Originally Posted by ccjarider

look at real estate crowdsourcing now.
No need to limit yourself to A piece of property anymore.
Invest in direct real estate equity or loan your money out at 9-10%.


Other option - I assume you are fully funding your ROTH IRA from other funds. If not, use these funds to do that first.
Despite fact that ROTH it is retirement money, it is yours tax free after five years.

Unless you have some experience _DO NOT Be a long distance landlord at your first excursion into this - seriously, you don't want to deal with what you are going to have to deal with without some experience.

There are better smarter ways to make $.

Doesn't help that real estate where I live outperforms the sp 500.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by Perma Bear

Oregon is cheap as hell compared to where I'm from.

Yeah, but your budget sucks. If you live next door, a $200k rental might be worth it in Oregon, but from California you will need to hire a plumber every time a faucet needs a new washer. A 50 year old house in poor repair is going to eat you alive in maintenance costs.

Seriously, look at the South, where $200k will buy you middle class digs.

[Perma Bear]

Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell

Yeah, but your budget sucks. If you live next door, a $200k rental might be worth it in Oregon, but from California you will need to hire a plumber every time a faucet needs a new washer. A 50 year old house in poor repair is going to eat you alive in maintenance costs.

Seriously, look at the South, where $200k will buy you middle class digs.

That's just play money, I could buy with a 110k downpayment but that would only be something I'd use I. The Bay Area where housing appreciates.

[Surging Chaos]

Consider moving to another state with a lower cost of living, such as anywhere in the Sun Belt, or Utah. Your money will go much farther there.

I know for every Californian it is a mandatory rite of passage to move to Oregon, but your money isn't going to get as much as you think it will.

[Silverfall]

One duplex isn't going to achieve monetarily what I think you are wanting to do. Real estate is a good investment, but if that is your investment strategy, you need more than one property. You won't have good cash flow with a duplex here with 20% down. You just won't. They also don't appreciate the same way single family homes do.

So if your end goal is to create wealth, you need to crunch the numbers and make sure that it makes sense. I think you will find that it won't. You will be competing against cash investors that don't have to take into account a mortgage into their cash flow analysis.

[Larry Caldwell]

Plus, with an income between $55k and $60k, he's not going to qualify for much of a mortgage. In the long run he's better off to keep living in his parents' basement and to continuing to save money.