Stay there for one year.

The implication is that they could have stayed (in MA the tenants have lots of rights) and simply not paid rent and trashed the place. 

They say, " if you can't take the heat then stay away from the fire", in other words if you can't absorb the cost of doing business then you are in the wrong business, simple as that.This is why I can't stand all of the jerks selling people on the concept that people can do real estate with absolutely no money, no credit, and no experience. 

We are now leaning towards more staying in our home for another year and keeping things as is.

So is it enough to say stay at a multi family and house hack until you can get enough residences to finance a personal home?

Are entire teams shifting over to eXp and staying or do they end up leaving?

To keep things simple, we stay consistent with our percentage ownership in everything and that is reflected in our K-1s.For additional work I've done for our LLC, we will pay me "management" or "services income" and I get 1099's at the end of the year.

Every path to success is hard so if you choose something you like then you have a higher chance of staying on that path.

Its in northern california and I would like to stay local if possible. 

What if you show the place and sign a lease with the new tenant, and on their move in day you find the the old tenant has decided to stay another month?