Are there any bolts or straps holding down the bottom plate anywhere around the perimeter?

I would also recommend making sure you can access the bottom floor from the top floor somehow 1) in case you ever want to stop renting out the basement and 2) so that it is a legal SFR (if you can't access one floor from the other, it may be seen as a SFR with an ADU, which could be an issue depending on your city's regulations). 

With the current rates (near all time low), this would reflect a negative cash flow at the 50% rule, but very near cash neutral if counting the principle paydown. 

So it's hard for me see that CA's near-bottom ranking is an indicator of how one would do as a real estate investor.One thought that I have is perhaps this map would be more useful if it gave a percent increase or decrease out of the state's total income.

It starts at the bottom of page 4 (5-3 in the document itself).The politics that are important to the business ramifications of this surround the eligibility requirements for the new folks on the "path to citizenship."  

The bottom two units are already rented and I believe I read that they are $550 each.

For us the answer lies in the financials & the bottom line potential Annual Return on Investment.  

The bottom line is, new construction or not, prices have to be able to be supported by comps, and you have to ensure the same desirability factors are still there.

Bottom Line: the best market to invest in is the market that you know best.

:I don't disagree with that, but at the same time, since 2008 when the property was worth maybe $230-240k and I owed $185k-190k, I had maybe $40k-$55k equity where now I'm closer to $120-140k.2008 was the bottom of the market in many places.  2014 is the top of the market according to many people (who knows?).