The issue of California competing with other high-tech centers in the world (instead of Rust/Bible Belt) may be easier to grasp for people who are reasonably familiar with geopolitics, global market trends, and the disruptive tech sector dependent on attracting the best talent.

Being new to this, the concepts are easier to grasp than the real world application.

Thank you.With a cash buy, you won't be getting an appraisal, so having a good grasp of property value is paramount. 

Just trying to get a grasp on where I should start looking into or researching a little!

As long as your professional is competent on the matter and can explain things in layman's terms, you're going to get a whole lot better understanding after a 30 minute conversation with him or her than any amount of online reading.If your CPA does not do a good job explaining things to you in layman's terms or does not have a good grasp on the subject and you feel the need to read about tax law before you have a meeting, perhaps you should see what else is out there.

I am currently enjoying the house hacking process myself, and would love to connect and share my experience to help you get a better grasp.

My training will be on my personal SFR and I REALLY need to have a grasp of the software before I start soliciting strangers to manage their properties.

Even before that, I would read David Greene's book Long Distance Real Estate Investing to get a a grasp of the fundamentals of remote investing.

As a beginner at one point yourself, what was something you thought you had a grasp of but later realized it was much more complex?

I'm still trying to get a grasp on how rental loans work.