While reading your experiences and thoughts, I saw I would be making the same decisions (and then I saw why they were wrong).

Personally a cash-out refi could help me get more quickly into all-cash BRRRs or a REI venture in Spain, however I don't know to what extent this is at the expense of rental cash flows, and what is the wiser decision long term.I've combed through posts online and looked for Excel templates to run some calcs and get a sense, but nothing really filled the void... 

You should have a pretty decent idea of what homes are worth/what places are renting for and you can make an educated decision from there.

Owning only 1 & being realitivly cash poor is risky.As for door knocking as a way to collect rent.

Due to crime and poor schools . 

.- I was able to get access to private investigator software to find the true owners of these properties since conventional skiptracing produced poor results.  

Hi Michele,Maxing out your Roth IRA before investing in real estate can be a wise decision, as it allows you to take advantage of the tax-free growth and withdrawals in retirement, providing a solid foundation for your future.

"Trust, but verify" when so much is on the line.What To Do:Verify that everything is proceeding according to plan.Google Maps makes the distance from Granite City, CA to Colusa County, Ca (no specific location) as around 87 miles, hour and a half or so travel time.For those reading to learn, I would think the take-aways include that your personal availability to supervise and monitor such a project should probably be part of the decision process of whether to proceed with the deal.My $0.02 ...

Do you have any advice that may help in my decision process?

@Kyle ReynoldsThe decision to rent or sell a Sacramento home is influenced by factors such as projected rent, negative cash flow, and potential appreciation potential.