Get a job that pays you a pile of money and invest that money, live well below your means, think long term, and delay gratification.

All OneRent (Jayson) did was call me and say, "He was broke and lost his job so we terminated the lease and let him go".

Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.Class D Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with little, maybe even negative, relative rent & value appreciationVacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560 (almost 30% probability of default), little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions.

Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.Class D Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with little, maybe even negative, relative rent & value appreciationVacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560 (almost 30% probability of default), little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions.

You are probably looking for ways to leave your job, but your job is what makes you lendable.

It's awesome you are considering where you want to be and flexible with that.I'd look at your high growth markets, where there is a diversified economy, job growth, income growth, population growth, business friendly environment. 

East Coast and Gulf Coast ports after members of the International Longshoremen’s Association, or ILA, began walking off the job after 12:01 a.m.

We might move back to the East Coast in 4-5 years, so I'm looking for investments that can work well as a primary residence now and a rental property later.Income: Both my girlfriend and I have solid tech salaries (150k+ each).Current Portfolio: I don’t currently own any rental properties.Goal & Long Term Plan: I don’t love my current job so like many of you, I would like to create enough passive income through rental properties to have financial freedom and be able to work business ideas or side projects.

Specifically, there's job growth (Intel, Honda, Amazon, Nationwide, etc) and the population is growing (unlike Cleveland or Cincy).

Similar to you, I wanted to find somewhere less expensive, still close to the Bay Area (drivable), but without the high property taxes, more favorable tenant/landlord laws, no state income tax, and consistent job/population growth.