Welcome to BPLots of factors - but a lot of people in your situation have had success doing the house hack in CA and then investing in pure rental properties in the Midwest - everybody's different, but that path seems to be a strong one for investors in CA that want to invest in RE but don't want to leave!

I just want to make sure I'm not getting myself in a situation that will be a headache as far as inheriting a tenet who I cannot remove. 

I was in this situation in a Wisconsin closing recently.

At the end of the day, it is really dependent on your situation.

The first thing a "wealthy" person typically does is buy back their time aka assert more control over their situation in life. 

Here's a breakdown of my current plan and aspirations:Current Situation:- I have $350K earmarked for real estate investment.- Currently renting an apartment in New York, but planning to relocate to Massachusetts with my wife.- Eyeing areas like Worcester, Shrewsbury, Grafton, and Millbury for a single-family house, priced around $500K, with a planned $100K down payment.

Whether it is profitable depends on the cost of electricity from your utility; your local/state incentives and net metering policies; and the cost to install the solar panels.A pretty easy and quick way to run ROI on a solar system is to use this tool put out by Google: https://sunroof.withgoogle.com/If you look at my post history, I'm in a similar situation and I will be going forward with solar when I do my roof.

However, this is also a situation where the right verbage will open doors.  

If you do not insure the LLC for Property Management, there are a lot of situations where you will be uncovered.  

In your situation, if you are an accredited investor, you could invest while living overseas easily.