It would be best to befriend a local contractor or even help one out on a job to see any differences from your past eight years doing it in another country.

Homes will have even more deferred maintenance and tenants will be even harder on them.Class D pretty much requires an OWNER to be on location and at the property 3-4 times/week.

I appreciate that, and you're right, any back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that much of the wealth comes from the equity accumulation, even in the earlier stages of the amortization schedule.

Insurance typically covers only the directly damaged area, not undamaged flooring, even if it's continuous.

I am so full of regret for even giving them a 3rd and 4th chance.

This year will likely be even worse.  

With the fires in CA, you can expect materials and contractors to become even more expensive. 

@Jay Hinrichs exactly the risk is even more than traditional development and the profit is actually less with more operational headaches.

If it were me, I would like consider refinancing only 1 of the 2 properties now and considering the second later in 2025 or even early 2026 when rates potentially soften.

.🔹 Insurance Challenges – Even when insurance pays, it rarely covers the actual cost to completely rebuild.