So In that sense yes I think buying a SFR in bay area from my personal perspective is priority one.. got to live somewhere and if you hold through the cycles your bound to make money.. as opposed to buying mid west properties that no one on the planet thinks will appreciate and thinking your going to actually amass any real cash..

Talk to any Ivy league real estate major and mention 2% and see how they respond....they will look at you like you must be from another planet.....not that you did not already know that...obviously you could teach those investment courses as is.

Stronger bank balance sheets (with significantly less toxic investment assets), manageable household leverage, and personal savings rates are higher. 

The stars and the planets have to line up.

Had he not died so young, just ten years later, the planet's maps might look very different today.In 1519, Hernán Cortés de Monroy landed in Mexico with 500 men, 13 horses, and either 5 or 6 cannons.

One of the biggest reasons for this is that you only need 3.5% down for a house hack rather than  the 20-25% needed for a non-owner-occupied.So, that $26k will only give you $104k-$130k of purchasing power out of state, whereas that same $26k can be stretched to over $700k with the lower down payment requirement.On top of that, San Diego returns are historically better than essentially anywhere else on this planet.

I’ve had many clients that demand white glove service including chauffeuring them all over the planet for weeks on end, but never pull the trigger.

I think once you can reasonably pay for things that you may see as non essential  as long as your not putting your vacations on your credit cards ... but basically take care of all debt except real estate and cars ( cars with 1 to 2% interest are not worth paying cash for unless you like to drive old used car's which I don't car to do).. and then you have extra cash then spend it on life adventures is my moto.We live in the Jet age for 1,200 bucks and 12 to 18 hours you can be on the other side of the planet..

there are brokers who can sell a house as good and faster than any wholesaler on the planet.. hands down... you just have to find those that work in those asset class s not a green agent or an agent that works with mostly retail mom and pop.. there are plenty of brokers who have a long list of clients that pay cash and can perform as good or certainly better than most wholesalers out there.. especially if the wholesaler really does not have ability to close.I buy quite a bit of property each year well over 200 properties and the deals come from my brokers.. 

Im here to tell you (with 30 years more on the planet) that life is simply not some linear constantly improving line.