Walkable to locally owned restaurants and the street had mostly owner occupied homes that are owned by long time owners.

You may be declined for not being an owner occupant, but it will still buy a little more time.

 Which city in the United States has appreciated the most over the past 10 years?

There are no other Chargers.As for real estate, I'm a partner with SunnyNest Homes, LLC.

Over that time we have acquired 4 properties, 6 doors. 

This will save you time and effort, as you won’t have to travel long distances to manage different properties or handle tenant issues.For your first investment, I suggest starting with 2-4 unit properties.

Is the real advantage to anyone owning NNN to get a relatively secure return on money whilst not having to deal with headaches of property ownership? 

We only lend to experienced rehabbers who have been doing this full-time and locally.

It was like paying for multiple Master's degrees to get our "real world" experience.  

Otherwise, I’d save my cash for the next acquisition.I’d also be posting on every social media platform and telling everyone I knew that I was looking for more real estate deals.