I work directly under my father who started our firm 35 years ago and they have somehow managed to survive multiple downturns as a small boutique firm.

Here is a nugget of information that I picked up from Lou’s presentation, and you can get nuggets from information from almost all presentations, even with sales involved.

It all depends how involved you want to get in the project and what level of sound proofing you are trying to achieve.

I'm a newbie in real estate but have about 6 years in various feilds of construction and also have my father/partner who has 32 years in multiple areas of construction.

Cali is like multiple states in one so there is hardly a reason to leave.

They are affordable, but the HOA fees and the politics involved make me leary.

One reason why I considered West Michigan is due to my family being heavily involved in the construction industry.  

These lists, if you're interested in trying them, are:- 75-100% equity with owners over 50 years old- tax delinquent- code violation...particularly overgrown or junky, multiple/long standing issues (this is a time/energy intensive list for me, hopefully your city's site is more user friendly)- recent arrests (sent out Wednesday, believe it or not I've already gotten a call back)Good luck!

Thanks Jered, and I agree it's tough out here, most of the deals we come across don't have much room for profit vs the risk involved. 

There are multiple ways to negotiate that. - If you can even get a 10% discount from market value then you get an additional $200.00 positive it might a good deal depending on how long you want to hold it.- Another way to look at it is, there are some other markets which are offering turnkey rental @ the 1-2% rule with discounts.