Regardless, I want to get your take on the importance of influence in real estate. 

I know some of these from speaking with you, but sharing what you have to bring, and what you need will have an influence on the best approach..It's always nice if you can get a distressed property to have higher potential returns, but balance that desire with your experience, ability to absorb risk, etc.

It sounds like you are relatively risk averse (with some influence from your wife..), so I'm thinking probably something more on the conservative side.

The definition of true passive investing is this : "regardless of any time you spend on that particular investment, whether it be 5 minutes, 5 hours, 5 days, it has absolutely no influence on the outcome of that investment".  

I'm here to learn as much as possible and I'm excited to see how the knowledge Bigger Pockets provides influences and improves our plan. 

Through my SOI (Sphere Of Influence).

If they have to be 4,000 sq ft then no the deal is not all that great but if they are less than 3,000 then of course it a nice deal that I am sure a builder would pick up as long as there is no other hair on it like Karen suggests or that the market won't really support it because of neighborhing influences like Mark Suggest...

However, I am looking to move closer in and have been hunting through LA's neighborhoods myself in trying to decide where my next play is.My thinking has been influenced by David Schumacher's book - Buy and Hold.  

Hi TimYes, we would be living in one of the units, which partly did influence our decision to look closer at this property because it is a nicer, newer property, built in the early 2000s.

I can read blog posts by news reporters on some aspect of RE and can tell they don't have a clue, at least they are just telling a story but with a style to influence others.....usually for public consumption.Same with RE investors, mentors, coaches as they get into more technical aspects, the blogs are skewed with opinion presented as factual.