It was very hard to find decent rental that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.

I also used a smart phone and went through at the same time as the realtor and video the walk through so that I could show my buyers pics and video.Anyways, yeah... you will probably be looking for a needle in a haystack and have to go through a lot of marketing/time/leg work/etc to find a good deal.

Just because a market is strong, look deeper and understand really why its happening and does it have legs.  

Someone please let me know if I have a leg to stand on here and what actions you would take! 

If done the correct way, by owning my own property and having tenants pay the loan down, I can live somewhere essentially for free and begin to get a leg up on gaining financial freedom.

Since you are in California, you will have to resort to making connections with people that will do the leg work for you and then you will be able to see if it is a "good deal" for yourself. 

This way the current tenants will be responsible for the rent until a new tenant is found, you don’t have to do the initial leg work of finding the tenant and all the showings involved, and your current tenants will be happy.

If you are a unexperienced business owner, you may even lose an arm or leg for this.  

Once you are armed with the right information you have a leg to stand on. 

Or, have a good working relationship with a hard money lender... as banks will be useless.Tilt yourself toward cash flowing properties - it is the flippers who were really caught with no chair when the music stoppedMake certain your financial situation would not require you to sell a property at a loss (time is on your side - my shelf life is shorter than yours) Consider avoiding purchasing a condominium or home in a planned urban development due to overreaching homeowners associations who can AND WILL alter bylaws (after you purchase) preventing you from renting an owned property.