I've lived and worked in China and at one time had quite a few Chinese nationals as investor clients in my Florida based firm. 

You can give notice to one of the tenants, then move in and rent out rooms to further cut your living expenses.Yes, something I've considered but does require me to move from CA to TN, so big life change. 

There's always someone getting older, or something going on in their life, and wants to sell out.

Give me the horse and buggy vs a self driving car with immature software and sensors any day.My point is you should use as much technology as you can to make your life easier without going beyond its limits, and in the meantime always be on the lookout for new solutions that solve problems without creating new ones.

We still end up doing a few things like upgrading appliances or installing recessed LED lighting and dimmer switches and other life-style upgrades to attract top-notch tenants. 

@Nate Pucel The depreciation basis for a rental property includes the purchase price plus the cost of renovations and improvements that add value or extend the property's life.

There's an omnipresent, ubiquitous brutality to life in general and running rental real estate in  prticular here that just doesn't translate well into metrics and data. 

Several options you can explore to get the down payment capital: Solo401k; HELOC on personal residence or from equity of the SFR; Cash Value Life Insurance Policy; Business Credit; Private Lenders, to name a few.

The only time I toss them is when the guests "help" by washing stuff. 

As a former planning commissioner the people AGAINST projects are the loudest so you want to make sure you have a good pulse on what your neighbors and the louder people at public hearings stand so you can be prepared ahead of time.