Like you as a mortgage underwriter, I have many years of experience being a professional supporting real estate investors as a CPA, but I now wanted to become a real estate investor myself.In late November of last year, like you're doing this November, I wrestled with the question of investing locally with a 4-unit purchased with FHA financing vs. investing out-of-state and got a lot of great advice.Like you, my goal is to retire within the next 10-15 years via real estate investing.As a result of some of the advice I've read through the forums (I would recommend you pay attention to guys who have been in real estate for decades like @Jay Hinrichs rather than the younger folks who are often just pushing their turnkey products) and speaking to investors at local real estate groups, I decided that given my place in life I would be wiser to place my bets on California appreciation over the next 20-30 years rather than investing in some beat-down property in Cleveland for an extra $400 or whatever in cash flow per month.Given the facts that (1) I could get into a property for a measly 3.5% down, which would free up cash to invest in other places if I so chose, (2) I was already throwing away rent every month such that I could still be cash flow negative of $650/month (what I was paying in rent) and still be better off because a portion of my monthly payment would be building my equity and the rest would be tax deductible, and (3) I'm in my 20s and have the time to take a long-term view of appreciation potential, it was a no-brainer to go the FHA 4-plex route in LA, despite the fact that it is one of the most expensive markets in the country.This isn't to say that the process was easy.  

They turn the houses extra space into rentable units collect rent and do not pay taxes on the rented space.

An umbrella policy is going to be very affordable for the extra coverage and though it may seem "over the top", that is why its called umbrella coverage.  

And if you can save an extra 2000 dollars a month because thats what you were paying for rent that is also good too.

We will often have some extra cylinders available and also keep the cylinders removed for future use elsewhere.

That could be some extra cash that you didn't have to spend money to market for.If this is of interest to anyone in the Rockingham or Guilford county areas or the Winston-Salem area in North Carolina, please, PM me, or email me from my bio page.Thanks for reading!

Also, looking for mentor and/or part-time work (15/hr month) working in RE (realty or property mgt.) office to gain some experience and make extra money/increase my down payment next year! 

Due to the difficulty of finding deals and high property taxes in my area (Chicago suburbs) I've been doing some hunting down there as well. 

We could use an extra set of eyes!

We all have difficulties in life and I appreciate when someone goes out of their way to help out.