You make me feel lazy for only having one job, one child, and spending my spare time investing.best of luck to you sir although I don't think you'll need it.

I say that very sparingly because the comps (within 2 miles) I have pulled are nowhere near the quality of work that we are doing on this property.  

Now that I have a little bit of spare change from my small business I would like to try my hand at a few rental properties, but SoCal is too expensive for me.

@Jin Kim, basically, their rent (paid to you) helps you pay your own mortgage - and maybe more to spare!

I used to paint apartments in that area with my brother for spare cash and we would have to bring an extra guy to watch the truck.

Living in once side of a duplex and renting the other (plus spare bedrooms in your case!)

Bring extra compact bulbs (there are always burned out bulbs!)

Turn-key would spare a lot of this hassle and net you more cash-flow every month, though you might only be able to save up down payments for one purchase/year. 

(Note: rent would cover PITI with $2K going to P and an additional couple hundred to spare per month not accounting for maintenance.)Obstacles/Questions: no construction experience and builders are currently asking top dollar; not sure if partnering is an option (not a request, just wondering if it is a valid option); what might be the financing options of whatever route we choose (e.g., HELOC on our current house, construction loan, etc.) with goal of being in a decent cash flow position preferably in a couple of years. 

In the end we removed around 110 yards of (tightly compacted) trash!!