I didn’t sign because their aggressive desperation for me to sign up was a huge turnoff and ultimately it felt like they wanted my credit card number more than anything else (which I’m sure is the case).

Hi Craedon - if you're looking for more information on different avenues within real estate investing to do in your free time, I'd strongly recommend reading the Ultimate Beginner's Guide by Josh Dorkin and Brandon Turner (It's a BiggerPockets Book). 

Ultimately, they are given the option to purchase travel insurance at check out.

My ultimate goal is to have $10,000/month cashflow in about 10 years time with "low-effort" REI to afford a mortgage in CA :)

Commercial real estate (businesses, corporate and residential complexes) is the ultimate goal.

In the meantime, we have set our sights on a different geographic location (also in the same state) for our retirement, and trying to figure out the best strategy to afford to ultimately purchase a property there.

It ultimately depends on your individual investment goals and risk tolerance.

The larger downpayment you can put down the lower your payment will be and ultimately will save you thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest.

The people who survived 2019 - 2023 did so through unprecedented conditions.

Ultimately this means you made a bad investment as a rental.