Good schools are what I value most.

And what about that high school biology?

UC is in very high demand so vacancy is basically 0, it isn't really a "party school" unlike somewhere like UCLA (weird example I know) so you won't have to deal with those issues as much, depending on how many people live there, who you rent it to (frat/party kids, etc).

There are also a couple boarding schools and private schools in the area that bring in wealthier families for visits. 

Anyone can paint, but it may look like a middle school project.

hahaha John, I thought I left the debating back in high school

There is no law school course in "statutory construction" or that even forms a segment of some course about related issues. 

Everyone has been scared the crazy state was never going to put a budget together and eventually the schools were going to have to shut down because they had no money coming in.So this may very well be a good time to buy as some landlords in college towns may have seen a decrease in vacancy and might be spooked. 

I don't want a 506C, accredited investors only, as many of the 50+ friends i have brought in wouldn't qualify especially when they were young and starting in their careers, and only had big grad school loans and not close to the >1mil net worth requirement (congress about to raise to >3mil), but they had good income and desire to invest to provide for their kids. to OP, Forest, ask people you know about RE syndications, ask CPAs who have thousands of clients, ask RIAs registered investment advisors, who have tens of thousands of clients, a reputable GP will provide records, access to other investors, allow you to come to shareholders meetings, will explain their compensation, will talk w you about Deals that went bad or didn't perform up to expectations, believe me we all remember every detail of those and will explain why and what they learned from it.

Great neighborhood, great house, schools etc.