What I have done is buy in parts of California like Stockton and Sacramento where the properties have higher cash flow than Silicon Valley.  

This approach has been most famously utilized and institutionalized by Silicon Valley, but fundamentally it's all about relationships.  

There are 10 types of everything, ie caulking: paintable or non paintable, silicon, polyurethane, polyethylene, etc. 

:goofy:"The homes we get at 10k are not even close to as nice as many folks storage sheds or dog houses in main stream Silicon Valley.

I would make sure to seal them with silicone to make sure they don't allow water into the wall causing mold and other damage.Jon, I am right there with you on my rentals getting more attention than my personal house.

. :)but for many families its about stability..for me I have never rented I bought a home to live in when I was 19  and never looked back.fate had me living in Silicon valley when I made my first buy in 1970s and well if your not familiar prices in those areas sky rocketed over the last 4 decades.. so it was the right thing for me in many ways.

Don't know about your market, but my local market, the infamously hot Silicon Valley, is cooling down recently....

I had another roofer out there and he floated the idea of a WDG Silicone Coating on the entire roof.  

@Arlen Chou   Portland is not a bad place either.. but there are few places on earth that the RE moves like silicon valley...

I was fortunate enough to come into some $ due the sale of a house in the Silicon Valley, and I used some of the proceeds to buy a beach house which I plan to rent out for at least for part of the year.I am in a relatively high tax bracket (~35%) due to household income.