I am not an expert, I am still learning...I have negotiated lawyer to lawyer, that almost cost us the deal and racked up $$$ for the lawyer. we ended up going to a coffee shop with the tenant and asked her face to face without our lawyers... and she said she was confused b.c she agreed to everything, I said we agree to everything too.... the lawyers were knit-picking at stuff... to draw out the negotiations.  

Small towns anywhere in the midwest are usually a very close knit community and outsiders will likely find it more difficult (aka more costly) to do business there.  

Best advise I was given is stock to your knitting don’t get involved in things you don’t understand

I'm no expert on investing in the L.A. area but 800k for a sfh with 100k cash as an investment property doesn't sound promising...not for a very long time.My 2 cents:  It sounds like you have a close knit family that wishes to remain together. 

It's also productive fun- I also like hobbies where I make things (knitting, sewing, cooking, fixing up things around the house, etc), but the sense of accomplishment at the end of spending 4 weeks solid knitting a scarf is not nearly as... well, fun... as spending that four weeks putting together a deal.And once you stop needing the money to live on, it starts going to interesting projects and things you care about- I try to donate money to science research I find interesting, but tends to get ignored by the big grant institutions- I could happily, happily, spend $100 million on that and never get bored.

I have ran into an issue that I could use some help understanding.The property I'm planning on purchasing is in my hometown, a very small and relatively close-knit community.

Notes is a small tight knit industry and making connections is huge.If you want to get educated in notes and scale quickly you will need to pay for your education.

We form a community that is as close knit as you want to make it.Again...welcome!

These tenants usually stay for a while since these properties have garages, backyards, and a tight knit community.

Your background gives you instant credibility in that crowd, which is small and tight-knit - very hard to break into, but great fishing grounds once you do.