It seems like you are looking for single family deals so just be aware that 1 vacancy=100% vacancy.Lastly,  Please be careful with MLS listings and don't overpay; I can't emphasize that enough.

I am not sure where those Google Earth images are from but in California there are a lot of people in a little area so density is already high and while people say everyone is leaving California the population there is still growing and those people are willing to live in a smaller home to stay there and pay more.I do however think you are over emphasizing the risk of fire.

Emphasize this message on your Google VM as well.

Come to a crocodile infested river and go swimming...Personally I used to emphasize with tenants and the struggle against increasing rents.

But, the comments do emphasize something I wonder -- most investors make choices and recommendations based upon what they can expect in their own lifetime, and most of the models which they use to support their predictions take for granted that population growth will remain positive, while none of them serve to explain what causes the growth which they observe (i.e.

Might mean there's no competition, but might also mean there's not much demand.The author of "Four Hour Work Week" really emphasizes test marketing.

Prior to lease signing, I go over the lease and emphasize that clause.

Have the seller sign this lease option with your LLC.Then have your Tenant buyer be shown the property by a licensed individual, perhaps a licensed property manager.Then sell the lease option agreement to the Tenant Buyer.And realize that in California the new Commissioner of the BRE has a "hard on" for bringing cavalier newbies of REI on CRIMINAL not civil penalties for brokering contracts.Seehttp://dredefenselawyer.com/california-bureau-of-r...LOS ANGELES – The Bureau of Real Estate is focused on the “biggest and baddest” violators of the law, according to State of California Real Estate Commissioner Wayne Bell, who spoke at a program hosted by the California Bar Association’s Real Estate Sales & Brokerage Sub-Section of the Property Law Section.At the program, entitled, The New Bureau of Real Estate and Its Enforcement, over 150 real estate licensees and real estate attorneys gathered on Monday to hear the new California Bureau of Real Estate (CalBRE) Commissioner speak about his current agenda.INDIVIDUALS PRACTICING REAL ESTATE WITHOUT A LICENSE MAY RECEIVE CRIMINAL CHARGESCommissioner Bell emphasized that his goal is to promote a fair, competent, and law-abiding real estate industry in California.

In Massachusetts, USA, in a RE course that I attended, the broker emphasized that the "highest and best" value was a duplex.

I did go to college, not that it is mandatory, and I got a business degree that emphasized real estate.