It sounds like a dice throw to me, and I hate gambling on factors out of my control.

I've had some of those go to zero, but I knew I was gambling on those, not investing.  

Why do people play the lottery or gamble in Vegas? 

@Matt Scott  your being very much a contrarian on how most of the BP investors think and act.most of them their tag line is "cash flow is everything appreciation is gambling". 

I write authentically and transparently and people relate to it: that's my entire strategy. 

It could appreciate but I consider that gambling.

That being said, assuming you invest in CA while you live in CA your returns wont be as high but you will also have that good looking income and lifestyle should things take a turn.Bakersfield is a great market to invest in if you are looking at investing in CA because there is still good cash flow and if you look at some of my previous posts you can see there is growth here, but it really comes down to if you want to gamble and potentially make more income than you could have even with your job, or if you want to take the job and play it safe and increase your investments over time.  

Just finished reading "Real Estate~Uncut, Direct, Authentic"~A Practical Guide To Buy, Rent, Manage, and Sell Investment Property by @Paul Camuto.

That option has always seemed kind of scary to me, and too much of a gamble.

Charles, I also gamble when investing in stocks.