I ran into a semi-gloss popcorn ceiling once and gave up the DIY before I finished.  

We all know that companies in the bay area have had the longest remote working policies and some have declared 'permanent' or semi-permanent remote work - which may be contributing to 'new employee' moves being slower.With that said though, SF just entered COVID stage 'yellow' and will begin to open non-essential offices to operate at.. around 25% I believe?

IANAL but you will generally inherit the existing lease.At the very minimum you want to see a copy of that lease prior to releasing your inspection contingency, so you can ensure that it's a lease you can live with at least until it is up (make sure your seller/landlord didn't promise the tenant anything crazy that you are unwilling to live up to... the tenant isn't a "bad guy" here that deserves to be bait-and-switched on).Various things you could ask for on top of that if any spidey sense is tingling:Estoppel cert, either semi-formal (eg, something you write up and have the tenant sign) or formal and notarized (to 100% validate who actually signed the thing). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estoppel_certificate Proof of receipt of on time rent for 12 months, with it being reasonable for the seller to black out their account numbers and the like.

I also like that is in semi-reasonable driving distance (~8 hrs) from Seattle, so I could get down there for a long weekend to scope out properties.

@John PocherOne more thing, any investment you make like this is best described as semi-passive. 

I've decided to take a semi-break from being a full-time real estate investor in 2024-2025 (I'm still active doing infill in my mobile home communities, but not planning to buy anything) and I've decided to give back to newer investors as a real estate coach.

But for folks needing a PM, the NARPM designation often weeds out part-time and semi-retired PMs who will not usually provide clients with the best service.

- The town of Lake Stevens is really great to work with - I would also keep an eye on Marysville and Arlington - They tend not to have the bigger city problems referred to above and which can plague certain chunks of Everett but many people commute from these semi-rural locations that offer better value housing and good access to the freeway. 

Utilizing someone else money - SEM - is what you want to do.

I use semi-gloss on anything that is likely to be touched a lot or where it might need to be cleaned.