I think this is the method I would like to go as it fits in line with what I envisioned. 

This also helped us in an unattended way when investing with my Solo 401k because banks treated the funds as liquid when invested in a public traded exchange versus in their fund and helped with securing better commercial financing on a deal because of the strength of our application in liquid assets.

Used houses in the area sell anywhere from $75-125 a square foot.These are long term rentals that I do not plan to sell.I am reading the Rental Property Investing book and implementing the method that focuses on cash flow and that strategy states you need to have $300 cash flow per month, per property.

I am currently waiting on a rather large legal settlement to hopefully hurry up and get him his $16,000 or if we can find someone to go ahead and pay him off early (no prepayment penalty), which would be hopefully paid off sooner than later as well in exchange for a secured lien on the property plus repayment of the $16,000 plus interest short term.

New tenant security scheme that only benefits Suncoast and the tenant - leaves owner paying up at move out. 

Instead you will cash flow right out of the gate and appreciation is faster in those states with TLC properties or adding things like an ADU, or Carriage home on a bigger lot.Most of my investors that live in CA purchase in those states listed above and in most cases its easy to introduce them to local Seasoned realtors Contractors, Handy Men/Women that can help them save money and feel secure about the distance from home to REI.

Well, not long ago somebody made a post about BRRR not being a good method at this point. 

Brandon Turner outlined this method in one of the older podcasts and there are previous posts in the forums.  

I know that the general guidance is that emergency funds aren't to be invested, but given our financial security and the fact that we already have a personal e-fund in a safe, non-volatile location, would it still be crazy/unwise to invest this 15k in an S&P500 index fund in a brokerage? 

Consider using an FHA loan to secure a 1–4 unit property with just 3.5% down and take advantage of tax benefits by living there for at least two years.