At some point your just gonna have to jump, perfect is a process not a place.

And that is a "perfect storm" for the giant sloth of corporate consolidation who is too slow a rambling titan too innovate, they regurgitate. 

I said Oh ya and perfect timing and hit it out of the Park !!!  

I always thought I needed tons of cash or perfect credit to get started.

But end of the day you simply have to make a choice and hopefully do the best you can choosing wisely what works for your personal situation and personality.The Norada thread was a perfect example of investors all over the map on how they react when a note payment is missed ..

Your engineering and project management background must be a huge asset in analyzing deals and market trends — perfect for the dynamic Bay Area market.

I got lucky and a tenant eagerly wanted to rent the entire building, and they were perfectly cool with a carpet over it.

It sounds like you are already doing move-ins perfectly with photo evidence and proper documentation.

Sorry for the following Contrarian advice, but you're not a 5 year old so:The only reason to buy a personal residence (Home) is because someone is forcing you to.Usually, this person is called your Spouse (which is Latin for someone who forces you to make horrible financial decisions then criticizes you for them endlessly:)perhaps DON'T buy a home, just rent something affordable and invest the 20% or in your case 50% into the stock market (sp500 16.1% yearly return last 15 years, 11% last 50 years, 10% last 125 years)remember, your RENT is your maximum monthly housing expense, but your Mortgage is your minimum or starting monthly housing cost, it always goes up from thereI've, owned 2 personal homes, 100% appreciation in 6years on #1 and in 7 years on #2, (I timed our market perfectly both times), with 20% down and very low mortgage rates, but after honestly calculating all expenses, only made about 5-6% a year "investment wise".

With that being said, I've got a lot less on mind if I just outsource it and a lot more time to spend perfecting my craft and developing other marketing strategies.