Or would having renters available to sign a 12 month lease reduce the weight of the first mortgage on our DTI ratio? 

Bakersfield has not had the rapid appreciation that much of CA has had and there is strong job growth (which looks like will continue into the future). 

But if you view the debt as a means to an end, a path towards early retirement, it will hopefully help you to not feel the weight on your shoulders. 

I live in an area that is growing rapidly and real estate prices are high. 

scheduling is an essential aspect of profiting from a project. using a GC is probably a bit more costly, but they are carrying the weight of the project and have overhead. shopping a GC's price is probably more time consuming than it is beneficial. you also are gaining the GC's knowledge of the qualiity of work that you will be receiving. but a schedule is critical and should be attached to the contract as an addendum. also any preference in material would need to be specified. the other item ive always included in contracts is the expected milestones and the sub either your own or from the GC should be strictly held to. after you get a few projects done you will understand more about how to schedule. also be mindful of your scope of work and changes. change orders can blow your budget.

Granted P/E is just one metric, but it seems to be an important indicator.I could be mistaken, but I think the PE ratio you are posting shows some sort of weighted 10 year average earnings which would include 2008 and 2009, ie times of incredibly low earnings.The current forward looking PE ratio is 18 and some change which is above average but not all that not all that high historically. 

If you're looking for where the path of progress is and you want to get in cheap and make a killing in the long run similar to Austin, Portland or Denver I'm not sure Milwaukee is built for those levels of appreciation driven primarily my rapid population growth.

@Patti Rosepiler  well I don't have the same weight in our household..

The really good ones are not exactly easy to find, but they are worth their weight in gold.If I had it to do all over again, I would have moved out of my first house after the first year there and house hacked my way into owning several more rent houses the same way.See you at the top!

Things are really getting high priced for what they are here in the Rapid City area.