Market rents have gone up slightly but I'm still burning negative cash flow and am scared to death of a large repair/capEx item or vacancy issue coming up.I am absolutely cherry picking extreme points in time of the historical market cycle for so cal, but the idea of the second scenario does scare me. 

The reason I say that is that while you are right - you are burning money on rent, a bad deal is NEVER better then no deal.

I don't know what @Chris Eaker is talking about. 1/3 of the year it's grey and rainy, our mountains burned up last year during the drought, and the market is getting over saturated.

Yeah I'm not sure how hands on you guys are but it really depends on your current financial situation and how passive an investment you guys want.I just think it's a lot easier to get burned out of state too--taken advantage by property managers, bogus lawsuits, ie replacing a roof--do you know the cost?

Everyone says if you are highly leveraged and there is a market crash then watch out your going to get burned.

I've had people try to burn me, using my posts here as 'evidence', to the point that the news has interviewed me for a report.

Wow,  I looked at Akron houses in that price range and they actually aren't too horrible,   For that kind of money here about all you can get is a burned out shell.

For me, I'm letting the pro do it so that a) I don't burn up a week of my time and b) the finished product looks top notch and not DIY.  

Also, they do have a lifespan and will burn out eventually.

Has anyone gotten burned by the city requiring de-conversion of an illegal unit?