The "backdoor Roth" strategy allows someone who earns too much income to be eligible to make a direct Roth contribution, to make a non-deductible contribution to a traditional IRA, limited by the annual contribution limits ($5500 for 2013), and then do a Roth conversion by rolling the contribution over from the traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.

Reduce your tax liability. 

So having a plan, ability to do some things yourself, and building a team prior to starting is helpful in reducing some of that risk.

Not getting reduced taxes.

Their shake-down with a $10 photograph can earn them hundreds of thousands. 

Yes, you lose the value add upswing, but you also reduce potential money loss and time loss.

Though CA authorities keep limiting the interest of such projects, I can still see interest in these projects based on the interconnection queues - still new ones are being added to study despite the increased cost and reduced revenue.You also make a great point regarding < 500kW systems.

You would need to earn equity on the new property to be able to refinance and pull cash out.

We can guide you through various loan types and help you choose what works best for your situation.To sum up:While starting with a local rental might give you more control and reduce potential headaches, there’s no harm in exploring out-of-state opportunities as long as you’re prepared for the management challenges.

Nice work, you've earned $340k in five years.