I realize costs will vary from location to location but if you brought me a deal with the repairs being less than $20/sqft for anything much more than a pure carpet and paint rehab I would tell you that you were nuts and it would be WAY more than your estimates.

Then pull out some fruit out (equity) after 3-5 years to scale up and by more rentals with that cash.

Sometimes fresh fruit from the garden or a nice bag of coffee or tea.

It can be intensive if you manage them yourself and can drive you nuts with the wrong tenants.

But to pay someone to do that for you is nuts.

Welcome, @Bradford OrtlundSoCal can be a tough nut to crack for newbies.A couple years ago I mailed out lots of letters to homeowners in LA County with no luck.Then I tried rural Kern County and got a deal from a distressed homeowner in California City.The margins were not as large as they would've been in LA or OC, but I was able to rent it out for 2 years before fixing it up and selling it for a decent gain.Also, have you considered an owner-occupied small multifamily for your first deal?

Plus my cost for groceries more than tripled upon leaving, and the quality of fruits and vegetables is just not there on the east coast. 

I just hope to someday be in the same boat as you and enjoying the fruits of our labor.Take care and thanks again for the motivation!

My first job growing up was working at a fruit market across the street from my subdivision when I was 14 years old.

We managed to get in a few years ago and got a deal but the recent attempts have not been fruitful.