(though here in so cal it's good) An appraiser has to rely on their experience be able to look at all of the factors that drive pricing to come up with values in areas where there's no comps. 

Having stated that the ROI in So Cal is great, if you are moving elsewhere I would not invest in So Cal.  It

Rob - when I first got to Fresno about 16 years ago - I noticed that the market was so low compared to so cal  - it was LITERALLY two for one houses for sale and I purchased my first property shortly after and it was  a duplex  for 110K in a decent area - granted, I was paying 11% at the time but I was stoked cause I was 28 and owned two houses and was positive cash flowing ( technically had to pay about $200 of my mortgage , but come on...just moved out an apartment I was paying $850 for )  That was when I realized that Fresno was ripe with opportunities.  

In stores find deals all over northern cal. It

Cal, it makes a lot of sense for having an ADU or small liviable space in your back yard. 

Buy and hold on the other hand will provide "capital gains" income upon resale so long as the intent was to buy and hold and you keep it for at least 1 year.Here in SO Cal, it is very difficult to find deals that allow for cash flow so to hold, you really need to find some superior value add opportunities (the rehab portion) and get a really good deal at purchase to have a shot at cash flow.

I cal it Dial a loan.

But given capitol gains of around 40% (I live in Cal), it would very hard to compensate with much higher returns vs loss of 40% in cap gains.

Cal. It's

However, unless Asian buyers are the only demographic buying in an area (sometimes that's a fact where I live in So Cal) it's just to take longer to sell.I've only have one property right next to a cemetary, an older post war SFR near Oakland.