I've paid off my home that is now worth $530K - I want to use the equity I've accumulated to purchase an investment property (multi-family or small apartment in the LA area). 1.

“From current levels, interest rates are likely to increase by at least another 75 basis points and there is a good chance advertised stock levels will accumulate through the spring selling season, providing more choice for buyers and adding further downwards pressure on housing values.” 

Based on what you wrote, I believe you have two primary goals.A dependable passive income that outpaces inflation and you will not outlive.Equity accumulation to enable additional investment property purchases minimizing the total capital required.If these are your goals, I recommend following the process illustrated below.In this post, I will only discuss location selection.

Property is a great investment but needs time to accumulate the wealth.

Establish financial goals based on your financial needs (cash flow and profits), then use actual accumulated dollars in those areas, numbers you can measure for success.

It has had me thinking that I might not want to convert any to STR or MTR until I'm ready to pause accumulating for a while.

You can move every year and accumulate more cash flowing units.

@Ana Coello I agree with the way you analyze and look at max rent vs what all your costs accumulate to.

@Kenneth Garrett thank you, I will keep accumulating more

Again, I want accumulate places where I would take my family on vacation, but that is just me.