@Paul WhitneyI'm a former SLO resident now up in the Tahoe Reno area.

They will be your BOG (boots on the ground) to be able to view the property.I will say that I did buy my current primary residence abroad and it wasn't fairly complicated, I would just do some things differently than I had initially anticipated if that makes sense.

Must have solar, ev charger etc.My materials distributors are expecting more inflation.Homeowners insurance is still going up.I wholly expect CA residents to continue to move there (wished I'd bought there!

While I love the idea of eventually owning a paid-off primary residence, I’m debating whether it’s smarter to sell our current house and use the equity as a down payment on the new home or to keep it as a rental.

You'll also want to set up criteria for residents.

Income taxes- if needed can you use your 2 year primary residence deduction if a taxable event occurs.13.  1031-  if any part of the insurance claim is a taxable event is there some way to do a 1031 with lenient time frame adjustments?  

One thing to consider since you are a California resident investing is the compliance requirements for LLCs incorporated in California or operating as a foreign entity here - the rules here are different than most states.  

Primary residence is paid off. 

Investment Info:Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Beloit.

They cited insurance reasons, which could very well be true, but many residents felt it as a big "f you" Now folks from outside the community could argue this was an entitled stance from the residents, to feel they had access to this private land when they didn't, and that on the face is certainly true.