I’m in CA also and paid cap gains on huge profits to the tune of 28%, which included CA state cap gains.

They are far more common now and harder to find models without but:1) these add cost to the purchase price2) they don't bring a lot of value3) they can leak or detach and damage the propertyI own around 50 doors and I cap off the line at the wall or in the basement with a valve and a cap so the potential for leaks is 0.00001% :-) 

Its taken some time out on the west coast but we did nail a 10 unit for a 7 cap right off of MLS in the portland market. 

If you live in an area with caps on rent increases, it is so important to increase it every year or you will find yourself well below market values with long term tenants. 

Up until then I was cheerleading the earlier thought experiments about supporting lean/regular/fat income with ~$1000 / month per paid off SFH, thinking “I could bang that out in 5 years”.

The cons as i see it include loosing the 2 of 5 year cap gain exception, typically not an ideal rental because the emphasis at purchase was buying a good home for your family and not a rental with optimal return (my ex-home consistently has the lowest cash flow for equity in my RE portfolio), not disconnected enough from the property causes addition angst on damage and may result in over improvement.  

Now i am capped at the rent increases i can provide to encourage them to give notice (one reason it is important to keep rent near market rent) and i no longer have the option to not renew their lease.there is a reason spa very large percentage of economists are anti rent control.

However, it is a highly desirable area which results in very low cap rates.

Every area has a max or cap, and you don't want to go over that.

Since I am having my prospective tenants cover the cost I would prefer to have the lowest cost option that gives you the most bang for your buck, but at the same time I want to be sure that what I am paying for is reliable.