Primary Goal: Earn some more cash in order to more quickly get to the point where I can branch off on my own and do my own deals (now in SoCal, this is a substantial amount of money I need to get start without outside investors, but not afraid of raising money).

I think being able to have the expertise to know when the company can provide such peace of mind, there is nothing that should raise a red flag about this one, but make sure it is not “too good to be true.”

You should not pay 70k for ~$650 in rent ($850 - HOA).I don't personally like anything with HOAs because I don't have control over when they are raised and each time they are cuts into your monthly cash flow and (double whammy) puts downward pressure on the asset value.The HOA doesn't cover any insurance? 

“I was born and raised in Oakland,” said Bonner, who now works as a housing advocate for All of Us or None — one of the groups that helped draft the Oakland Fair Chance Housing Ordinance, along with Just Cities.

If the driveway- garage differential is big (for example, the driveway slab is sunken and you need to raise the house, you'll end up with an even bigger gap after repair) you might need to replace the driveway. $$$$8.

To answer the question I do not no much about the Chicago market, I have heard that it is good but I do know the Kansas City market pretty well as I was born and raised here.

Then use your Cali connections to raise private $$$ in the 8-9% range.

I was told the other day someone did this and it raised a red flag to me, lol. 

Monthly costs: $62 taxes, $38 insurance, $185 HOAExpected cash flow after raising rent in April: $300/mo.I want to pull the trigger, but I don't know much about townhomes, so I'm in uncharted territory! 

Longmont has great schools and is a great town to raise a family.