If so then going with a lender that works in the shorter time horizon might be a good idea. 

@Adam H. you can't time the market, and if your time horizon is over the long term as long as you don't buy a bad property you'll still do alright.

(I'm interested in permaculture and regenerative practices.)Anyway, California being what we all know it is, I'm coming around to the fact that isn't going to happen for me here any time soon, and found BP in a search to expand my horizons.

Since the property started as your primary residence the three years immediately following your move out do not count toward non-qualified use (unless there's something new on the horizon I don't know - @Natalie Kolodij?

I wouldn't count on this place appreciating, and would anticipate long vacancy times, and potential evictions on the horizon.

Whats your investment horizon (are you looking to sell this in a year or two, or hold onto it long term)?

Having said that, if you're looking near the city, with good transportation, have a long time horizon, and would otherwise be renting, then I'd say it's somewhat futile to try to time the market.

It all depends on your investor base and what they are looking for. 3-5 year investment strategies cater to investors looking for IRR (although over the long run, I haven’t seen much difference across strategies) while 7-10 year investors typically focus more on “cash on cash” aka cash flow from operations.It’s true though that most investors, especially younger investors, prefer shorter term investment horizons.

I'm in Horizons West (Winter Garden, SW Metro Orlando).

@Amy Hietala what are your goals with that capital and what's your time horizon?