my closest rei group is about an hour and a half away.

the units are also 50$ less than the closest competitor in the same size unit.

Should I pick the closest one?

Any nearby apartment complexes are in iffy neighborhoods, apartments on the other side, near downtown are too expensive, and the closest, cheapest, safest apartments and houses are closer to the University which isn't far, but crosses some busy roads and interstates which makes the drive much longer and stressful; and that's the reason why there's such a demand for the employees who want to rent nearby but don't have options. 

Prizes for:- Closest guess for sales price (Bob Barker rules)- Closest guess for development plan - Most creative!

Steak is just steak.

I never found a cohesive secret to finding great tenants there, other than "older people" was maybe the closest, BUT it sounds like you have a good or great IT job going, while I applaud your wanting to jump out on your own, be your own boss, etc and say to keep thinking that way, I'd HIGHLY recommend saving up a lot more $$$ reserves first, unless maybe as @William Hochstedler mentioned above, your the 1 in a 1000 superman, but that's hard for anyone to predict for themselves. 

These are the closest to Tracy/Modesto that I'm familiar with.If you Google "national REIA" you will find their main page where you can search for the closest group to you.

They don't usually have sellers disclosures but this is the closest thing to it.

Here's the numbers:  Buy and HoldThe closest comp is across the hall.  3 years ago it appraised for 167k and sold for 150k.