I feel like every project has its curveballs, and sometimes it’s the unexpected stuff that teaches us the most.

Scope creep is a huge problem and the more you learn up about the project up front, the easier it is to figure out what actually needs to be done and avoid surprises (or pass on deals that need more than you initially think): https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/due-diligence-ultimate-gu...I highly recommend building a contingency (I do 20%) into your rehab budgets for unexpected issues.

I think the "population decline" is falsely reported and exaggerated by certain media outlets that have a political agenda against CA.

While running a large group of small landlords in Philly, i have visibility into the full realm of challenges that new investors face - and some are quite overwhelming and totally unexpected because they jumped in without fully understanding what they jumped into. 

Make sure you have adequate reserves to cover unexpected emergencies.3) Time-intensive - If you live on-site you're a live in property manager on call 24/74) Legal issues - know the max occupancy laws for your area.

Choosing the right media outlet is important because some have agendas and twist any story to meet that narrative.

Some places you will have turnover, bad tenants and have unexpected expenses. $900 seems low for a 3/1 so I think that can be pushed up. 

I was holding approximately 20 of their properties at that time, so you can imagine that unexpectedly paying out 20 interest payments every month was impossible.   

From my experience, many investors prefer to stay hands-off and avoid the day-to-day operations—managing contractors, solving unexpected issues, or finding a replacement electrician.

They are one of the largest outlets in Boston and tabulate all their service calls into usable data which they then blog about.I rely on them for any and all appliance data.