I'm wholesaling a property on Pleasant St next week and will be continuing to source properties in the area.

There is nothing in Southern California that I can get intimately familiar with with a full time job (thatbid worth investing in at least).

If you cannot qualify this way or if the down payment is an issue, the slow accumulation of wealth through a rental might not be the right strategy at this point in time.

I think the one way to invest in Austin at this point in time is to flip houses. 

Did you not purchase a property in time?

If people do not have an intimate knowledge of something then they do not need to be writing blogs giving people inaccurate information with broad brush strokes about an industry.Restaurants can do well but like any other sub-asset class of commercial retail you have to buy right and know how to properly underwrite.

The reason we use more conservative values than our actuals is that we would rather be pleasantly surprised with our returns than having to come up with cash out of pocket to make ends meet over time. 

Has anyone stated they would not be gone in time?  

At that point in time you get rid of him.Strict enforcement of your rules begins with new tenants. 

This way you can track initial listing prices...sold prices...days on market... square footage...average price sold per square footage, etc...A realtor wont like me saying it...but you can do a lot of educating of yourself by tracking this data and becoming intimately familiar with what is happening.