I'm also getting increasingly weary of SoCal purchases for a number of reasons, though I'm still planning to pick something up this year locally.  

Just pick your properties correctly.

For example, the owner's name or the property's name (I picked this one).

For Livermore, the activity is slower compared to the general Bay Area so you would need to be more cautious on picking the right property to flip, and the margin has to be large enough for it to make sense.

Just be mindful to keep relationships with your tenants strong.I’m curious... if you had to pick just one route right now..sell, refinance, or optimize..where do you think you’d lean, and why?

The home has been doing okay Occupancy wise it is following the same occupancy as the average occupancy in the area so around 60-77%  but it is a new unit, this march it has increased to an 81% occupancy and April and May its picking up in occupancy fast so its a perfect time that I started this airbnb. 

I've checked daily for the last year or two and its slim pickings over here!

We do have 1 mid term rental where we allow pets, but it's all hard surface flooring, fenced in backyard, and has pretty durable furniture. 

Purchase price: $490,000 Cash invested: $200,000 Picked up this MHP offmarket back in 2023.

I remember back when I was ramping up my own rental portfolio in those early-2000s San Diego days, I learned the hard way that ignoring “little” costs..like that termite treatment or the property manager’s onboarding fee..can turn what looked like a sweet deal into something that barely breaks even.Let’s say you pick up a property in one of those under-the-radar neighborhoods in Omaha or maybe on the south side of Chicago..markets I’ve seen a few colleagues dabbling in lately..you’ve got to be ready to get real about the numbers.