The 36inch lazy susan had a door that spun around with the shelving and the weight of the granite depressed the top corner supports just enough that I had to shave the top & bottom of the door to avoid it jamming on the top/bottom edges. 

We have shaved this down for 38 houses to very few hours per month for ALL functions.  

You could always shave down on the cost by doing the things you can do yourself and just paying an electrician & plumber (although those are the 2 most costly contractors in our area).

Many houses built in the 40's and 50's have clay sewer lines and they're all failing. 

Hopefully once this first property is all settled, I'll be more confident in the process and shave some time off that 15-17 year timeframe. 

@Neil S., have you considered investing outside of CA? 

I've seen the spray-in foam insulation for walls, but I am not sure if it would work in a ceiling or if that's advisable.

When you apply a lump sum payment towards your mortgage balance, you shave off tens of thousands in interest and you accelerate paying off your mortgage.Don't worry if your heloc interest rate is higher than your mortgage interest rate.

If person A has a W2 income of 250k and person B has a W2 income of 100k from their day job and both persons love RE, but person A when they are ready to retire let's say in their 70's have 100 units but because of the way they managed their income and the decisions they made using leverage and choices on properties, location, quality, repairs needed, person A only has 2 million in networth.   

This can shave YEARS off your mortgage if done correctly.So Bigger Pockets, go ahead and SAVE SOME MONEY!!!