Prices a few years ago were based on expectations of (in addition to interest rates staying low): - Then current operating cost assumptions (like insurance cost expectations being flat)- A seeming disregard for record levels of new inventory / supply hitting the market- Extremely high inbound migration expectations which are likely to not be met, due to both natural disasters and the boomerang effect when people from California or the Northeast move to the American South and hate every minute of the humidity, the large and relentless swarm of insects, and the occasional hurricane. 

Hey Sarah, I'm a big advocate for self-managing even from out of state.I manage my 12-doors in Detroit and live in California.

From internet search/Turbo Tenant:  'In certain instances, breaking a lease in California due to a medical condition might be possible.

Quote from @Marcus Ball: After struggling with local rehab properties in California, I switched to build-to-rent developers and chose a 1031 exchange.

I am a twenty year plus licenses GC who has built over 100,000,000. in commercial and residential construction in the NY, NJ, PA, CT and CA marketplaces.

Without the high leverage you reduce the top source of return in CA RE which is achieve via the appreciation on a high leverage property.  

We pay $850 for a WH install, so, that seems high but you are in CA.

Some homes are 2 x 4 construction, like you'd see in Colorado or California. 

Out-of-state investing makes the most sense for me—it’s impossible to cash flow anywhere near me, and moving wouldn’t make sense because I wouldn’t be able to earn the same wages or find the same kind of jobs.Before this purchase, I already owned two properties: a long-term rental outside Houston, Texas, and a short-term rental in the Sierras in California.

In CA currently only MF properties are rent controlled.