While my husband and his ex make a similar income and do not exchange child support due to us pointing that out in court a couple of years ago, she actively request all financial documents that she possibly can and examines our taxes, etc. 

California also has Proposition 19 rules to consider, which might impact property tax reassessments if the transfer is not between parent and child. 

If you’re comfortable with a bigger investment, a duplex is good for the benefit of additional cash flow and you could house-hack.

Their debts would include not just car payments, student loans, and credit card payments but also things like child support paid.

Relatively small amounts of interest income ($1600+ per year) is the highest taxed form of income I have found if you have kids at home.After earning a few grand in interest, It takes away my child tax credits and gives me an effective tax rate of 70%.   

A recent marriage or birth of a child or adoption of a pet.

I felt I had a good head start since I was already a real estate agent and was very comfortable with finding comps and figuring out the ARV.

If you are single or married with a small child, buying a duplex or 4plex should work well.  

Additionally, I would like to attempt to do the process Owner/Builder with subcontracting work out as well as doing some of the work I'm comfortable with (I have some experience with bathroom & kitchen remodeling an am not new to the construction industry).

I’ve visited every other property I’ve considered in the past, so this is uncharted territory for me, and it feels a little out of my comfort zone.I’m considering putting it under contract sight unseen to lock it up, but I don’t want to make a rookie mistake here.I'm looking for some advice here.