This price will of course be higher if you have an unusual roof design with greater surface area. 

Also a couple years back I was trying to get my water fix that was running off a spring the people told me I couldn't use it anymore because it was surface water and they made me dig a well.

On the surface, as far as a brrr goes, the numbers make sense to get your cash back.

As I navigate through this decision-making process, a question has surfaced: Is my perception correct in thinking that California leans more towards appreciation-heavy investments rather than prioritizing cash flow?

The areas by the Gulf have some high insurance premiums that are capping the prices... so not just mortgage rates.It would be interesting to see the distribution of the national numbers on new home starts, if they are clustered in TX.Anyway, I think perhaps with that much general "movement," the housing market in TX (its a massive state anyway), isn't entirely frozen like other markets. i'm very supply-demand person when investing anything rather than price or rate so I always trying to understand what's going on behind the surface, for example look at how the inventory is shifting in the last 3 years reveals something interesting ... it's not just TX that has supply increased but also oklahoma and nebraska, I thought in 2019 it should be the other way around.

On the surface, this objectively sucked.This is the first month in a very long time that my cash flow isn't covering the mortgages.

There are typically risks and expenses that may not be obvious on the surface. 

Recognizing the untapped potential beneath the surface, I set out to forge relationships with both the sellers and the dynamic managerial duo.The key to this success story was my ability to be a problem solver.

Without having all the details, I would say on surface level that this does not seem like a great deal.

That's the surface level of it all.