I am more than willing to move to other cities to pursue real estate while working but obviously there is a lot of time and effort to move cities and jobs.

Stick with 30 year mortgages and pay them on a 15 year amortization schedule if you are trying to payoff your debt quickly.

If a company provides a specific uniform that must be worn by all employees on a job, then it probably is a legitimate business expense.

I’m not super keen on having long-term tenants in a single-family home in California, but I’m open to advice on that.The house is in decent shape but could use new flooring, a paint job, and potentially heating and/or central AC, as well as blocking/taking out the existing fireplaces (don't love the idea of fireplaces in a rental). 

As long as they are working real jobs and have a bank account, you can make them pay.

While this approach works in the early stages, there comes a time when consolidating all your properties' insurance into a single, scheduled program might be more beneficial.

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.

Maybe we could all schedule a call to talk about it more. 

I love my job.

It's the landlord who ends up cleaning the tenants ranges and scrubs out their bathtub; typically while the tenants sit in the living room and watch TV (ask me how I know).It's not a two partner job.