How long do you expect to do the reno / how much do you expect it to cost?

The earlier you start in your RE journey, the better off you will be in the future.

I would like to visit these cities again in the future, and I plan to.

Don't view the money you're losing in the first few projects as a loss, but rather as an investment in your future and your new career.

In light of current high rate environment, if you were an investor/developer, and you were about to start a 30 unit residential/commercial mixed use property (ground level a few shops, rental apartments upstairs), what percent of rate return are you expecting for your initial capital? 

Usually, novice investor is asking this question to realtor.Now since you are in San Diego, you should try to "sell" in San Diego and "be creative" in San Diego.If San Diego realtor is also investing OOS then there's no point become realtor in San Diego lol ; sorry but you have to find out market opps in your market, we expect you to exploit the oops and give it to us lol

@Kyryl Sokolov we know the Metro Detroit area VERY well, in business 24 years, manage over 700 doors or which almost 100 are Section 8.1) Yes, you are a bit off on this expectation.

While predicting future gentrification can be speculative. 

If you see really low rates, that likely means your investment will struggle to make money, and will also be difficult to sell in the future.

I am looking to hopefully score a duplex or triplex in the future.