@Kaleb JohnsonRecommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

Landlords have limited ability to raise rents, and the market standard is that rents drop. 

They are grandfathered in, the property was built prior to those standards.

Someone with $10M in the bank in cash just needs to put a lot of money to work and time value and tax write off is more interesting to them than a hungry investor in their 20s that has never found a deal.Honestly, books are great, but they are about as "boiler plate" as you can get as I'm sure you're discovering.

You may not need to visit each property you buy in that area though.4) Unless you are buying Class A turnkey, you should have a PMC.5) See below copy & paste info:-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

As long as you express the key details of tenant information, lease dates, along with any standard information to vacate, and clear language of "non-renewal".

CA RE Broker ( which I have) standard state MLO and NMLS  and Consumer finance license.

We discovered problems that required a lot of work and significantly reduced the property’s value, forcing me to lower the price.

Unfortunately, not many around like that...The appraisal is about $150-$200 higher than standard cost because they likely went through an appraisal management company ("AMC") to get the appraisal ordered/assigned.

To add to your argument I suppose the tax implications are better with RE too bc theres a capital gains tax ceiling of 20% vs standard tax rates for IRA withdrawals that are potentially much higher.