@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". 

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.  

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

Charles, I also gamble when investing in stocks.

Hi AllI have recently started working for a company specialising in UK investment land.This sparked my interest in the property market and I can't wait to start building my portfolio.

At that point, you are not risking or gambling, you are taking sure bets.

I used to gamble and was pretty good at it, especially blackjack  / 21. 

In theory, PMI shouldn't be necessary if the underwriters gamble on the right applicants.Of course things happen.  

It's a 50 cent gamble so it's worth trying.