You're also LIVING there when you house hack, so you have to factor in what your "normal" comparable living costs would be. 

Anything not actually apart of your main house (or a basement that is below grade) is considered Additional Square Footage and will have a fraction of the value per sqft as compared to GLA. 

Given that the deal is off-market and there might be limited information on pricing, you should compare the property to recent comparable sales in the area (comps) to confirm that the price is fair.

Having a hard time to find anything remotely comparable to this home in CAHowever being a remote landlord feels like a tough pill to swallow hence the confusion. 

Specifically, we'd like to understand:Liability Protection: How does each state's legal framework and case law compare in protecting our personal assets from liabilities related to the property?

Basically put together a list of comparable apartments that are currently available for rent.

My cleaning teams are extremely well-paid compared to other properties in the area.

Instead, the Bargain is the discount on the Future Value of the Investment as compared to what you purchased it!

What are the significant advantages and disadvantages if you would compare buying from an owner (if you can find one or one finds you) and buying at an auction?

Others 15 yrs, etc.So we depreciate a portion of the asset costs faster.We do the study and get dollar amounts assigned to different parts and different schedules to front-load depreciation.Now you can get 5 or 6% of the value as a deduction in the early years...But wait... there's more.Bonus depreciation allows you to deduct a certain percentage of cost in the first year an asset is put into service.Anything that is on a schedule of 15 years or less...So the doors, sidewalks, HVAC, walls, latches, curbs, security, gates, etcA % of this stuff goes in Yr 1.For years 2015 through 2017, first-year bonus depreciation for these items was set at 50%.It was scheduled to go down to 40% in 2018 and 30% in 2019, 0% in 2020.But then the Tax Cuts and Jobs act moved this percentage to 100% from 2017 to 2022 and 80% in 2023 and 60% in 2024.Its not uncommon to allocate 30% of an asset cost to items that can be depreciated on a 15 year or faster time frame.So now 60% of that 30% of your asset's cost can be depreciated in the first year, excluding land.Pretty great.This is how real estate owners, investors, and operators make millions and pay very little in taxes compared to W2 employees.They pay even less and can offset other types of income if they are an RE Pro.