You don’t get CA level appreciation in Kansas City.Some areas are high crime so need make sure you understand the neighborhood you are investing in, like any city all locations are not equal.Very car centric city, mass transit is not widely used, people don’t walk, they drive outside of a few very walkable locations in heart of the city. 

Plus, years down the road, I plan to split my time between SF and Detroit, so this would be a step in that direction.Another major focus for 2025 is a personal project: we recently completed a large ADU build at our primary residence here in California.

@Blake Kirby I just finished the first half of a successful 1031 exchange for BP clients from California...the second fourplex closes early next week.

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff: Yes, you are right; that is true for California..

Role-playing.     . you paid $300k 10 years ago, it’s worth $660k, (so when you sell you net $600k to make math easy.)and your cpa determined that you owned zero land, so it’s all depreciatable. you owe 15% on the $300k gain plus 25% tax on $109k depreciation recapture, so you owe $70k in federal taxes, then California reaches out for another $30k?  

In Southern California, we have amazing appreciation (both in rents and in home values), which you can later leverage to buy properties out of state.

I'm an Architect and MRED Grad and have entitled and permitted over 200 units across Bay Area and Norther California, ask me anything about SB9 or ADU design / permitting

I think back on my HML days in Oakland CA..

California does not have a law requiring deposits to be held separately (neither did Alabama when i had Alabama properties) and it seems like a significant hassle to address a virtually never occurring event (not having money to return deposit to the tenant). 

Your profile says you are from CA, are you a long distance investor or are you local?