I've been all over the Caribbean islands, and I mean traveling within the countries, not just staying at the resorts, but even then, I feel Mexico has more to offer and I genuinely have a great time.

Leveraging partnerships or joint ventures could be another way to move forward without overextending your own financial resources.

Living, but either way you could try speaking with existing owner/operators groups in the greater bay area, or even central coast, looking to expand their portfolios for a joint venture.  

I used the C.A.R form RESIDENTIAL PURCHASE AGREEMENT AND JOINT ESCROW INSTRUCTIONS.  

The real estate investor has advertised on this site, and continues to advertise joint ventures and private money deals in multiple states.

While I’m willing to have joint properties going forward and look forward to building our financial future together I will be getting a prenup before we tie the knot.

Hey Mike, good discussion and good that you have some clear expectations going in.As others have mentioned, since you'll be living there, it can be better to start with a subset of cities that you'll genuinely enjoy living in, then work backwards into data and metrics from there.For the cities you mentioned, here's a visualization of current rent-to-price ratios.

Note that if you are married filing joint, only the spouse who is qualifying for REPS is able to count their hours.Step 4: Apply the quantitative testsPer Section 469(c)(7)(B), in order to qualify for REPS, you must meet both of the tests below:750-Hour Test: If you materially participate in a real property trade or business, you must spend 750+ hours during the tax year.More Than Half Test: You must spend more than half of your personal service hours in the real property trade or business in which you materially participate.Step 5: Material participation in rental activities Just because you qualify for real estate professional status does not mean that your rental activities are automatically considered non-passive.

Alternative options include offering a significant down payment, a lease-option agreement, a joint venture, or a deferred closing to align with John's timeline.

He genuinely seemed apologetic and wanted to fix this issue going forward.