If you truly want to go the affordable route then you will want to more or less mimic the big builders, and make up for the smaller margins with volume and economies of scale.

With the economy of scale in multifamily, each additional unit nets you a little more than the last, as a rule of thumb.

California's economy, and real estate market, ain't going anywhere.  

I'd be looking at multiple structures. we try to build below the average new build cost in our market in Columbus Ohio which is 515,000 last year and we target land 40-50k and urban core adjacent where we get higher price per square foot. we build for clients with margin around $190 a sq ft depending on multi or single. we can get that down in our triplex it's a little higher on our single family homes because of garages and limited economies of scale. hope that helps. idk Philly but if you show me the area and styles of homes I can give you some more insights. 

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If the new administration actually enacts their policy stances on tariffs, immigration, trying to ignite the economy even more....all of those things add up to higher inflation.

The MHC space is much more difficult for value-add then say for apartments where you have greater density and economies of scale.Hope this helps.

I think I was fortunate to find a roll outside of real estate to diversify my income across two different sectors of the economy. 

I used a property manager (before I was one) for (1) time & headache savings and (2) the value the property managers provide by economies of scale (marketing, discounts with vendors, etc.).

But at the end of the day, I'm not going to let taxes dictate where I am going to buy real estate...it's probably best to just look at things like job growth, population, stable economy, etc.