If you are not comfortable with your accountant or how he is preparing/explaining your return, you may need a new accountant. 

Just depends on what your comfort level and willing to dive in the deep end.If your open to higher price range I would tell you to try and stay in the multifamily since it helps offer more rents per month under one mortgage, tax bill and insurance policy.

No cloth seats on dining room chairs.

I suspect she'll be greedy and demand more, so negotiate what you are comfortable with.If that doesn't work, lawyer up and sue.

The scarcity of options that these people have makes them happy to drive a bit to solve their problem while also maintaining their comfort and safety during their stay.

You may have been an indoor employee with air conditioning and a comfortable chair, but sometimes the only work available is being a rough neck in the oil field or some other unpleasant type of hard work. 

Again, it's all about what you are comfortable doing. 

Don't limit yourself to targeting 8 units, as @Robert Rixer said focus on the numbers of the deal, and make sure you are comfortable with the risk/reward trade off. 

Milwaukee for a Cali investor is more comfort level(OOS investing) and some form of diversification & speculation.

I've listened to many ways to structure deals and done my own math and (so far) have not been able to make something pencil out in the RE space that was in my comfort zone of risk.