That brought the appraisal up $30,000 with these factors in play. The

Patience is a virtue and you have to play the long game if you want to be an investor and be financially free.

It can be done.Remember, the younger you are, the more time you have to play the appreciation game, and LA is one of the best markets in the country for appreciation.I'm not saying cash flow isn't important. 

I'd like to start investing, but I don't want to play the market timing game and potentially wait years until we see a dip in prices locally.I have considered Fresno, Sacramento, and Phoenix because I am familiar with all of those areas.

A rehab project like Greg mentioned above might be a great option or if you get something that is a deep value add with an increase in rents would be a great play. The

You could complain to them and get the HOA to step in and play the villain.

I could argue "it's neither good nor bad" but I think most people would find it, well, limiting.Taking that and putting it to the side for the moment, if you have an investor that wants to play the appreciation game then this property might work.  

I am thinking of selling my LA property (which is currently cash flowing about $400/month) and with that money buying 2 houses in Austin to play the appreciation game (with potentially little to no cash flow) since Austin long-term has more room to grow (IMHO) price-wise.  

You might be able to play the "I bought it for rental purposes, but something came-up and I sold it" line once or twice, but if you are regularly rolling properties, they will be considered inventory, not assets.

You will have a higher chance of evictions or worse (tenants who play the system).