I agree with the sentiment to sell the $18K car and find a cheaper one.

This implies that non-owner occupied STRs are still allowed in the city of San Diego but there is a significant anti-STR sentiment among many people. 

For instance, like when a small business owner will let the crazy cat guy post a flyer of his missing cat on the front door without a second thought while conversely, the big corporate stores have thought-out and decided-on policies and protocols against such small community interactions/sentiments...found that out this week.

I second Matthews sentiment here.

Because income property, even similar properties, differ in so many ways, a formula was needed to provide a quantifiable measurement of buyer sentiment. 

I purchased 12 properties so far in 2018 so far and still going strong, but I am buying in two rising markets.No one has a crystal ball, but its a matter of mitigating the risk, managing the debt, and watching for warning signs ie more stock coming to market, market sentiment changing etc.

To the more county or even city level, I always like to look at the macroeconomic drivers like population growth/decline, economic growth/decline, what developments are or are not planned, general price ranges, investor activity and sentiment, and the like. 

Just to point out to folks who have taken offense to Jim's world view, don't forget that some pretty smart folks share a similar sentiment: Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.

They say the same thing I did and the sentiment is repeated by anyone who knows better.  

@Bruce Yin -  Just echoing the sentiment in the room here.