But having said that there are also wonderful tenants who can be found after diligent and patient searching. 

Just be patient, my friend, and try to view real estate investing through an abundance, not scarcity mindset.

., where the simple act of securing permits to build an average “granny flat”in an average backyard can turn into an epic battle with the city’s Department of Building and Safety, that could take weeks, if not months.

Most doctors want to be close to a patient population that has $$$ to spend on their services.

Being patient is key.  

I Love the safety and Due diligence tips on your end.

Be patient but always prospect and network. 

Math:- 4 bed, ~2000 sq ft, ~5000+ sq ft lot, good schools 6+, 1990+- 630-670k asking price- property tax 1.3-1.6%, mortgage 3.2%- after running some numbers, it gives me 3.3k-3.6k per month to own (mortgage, insurance, property tax, sometimes HOA, not counting utilities and maintenance) - rents in the area are closer to 3k tho, but everything goes within a week or two, so I bet if you are patient, you could rent it with cashflow (saw couple houses that went on Zillow for rent 3d after closing and were rented out with cashflow after 7d)So there is this upper limit of ~700k above which owning costs are way higher than avg rent (for same reason locations inside Bay do not make sense, I think).

Be patient, don't rush into something and buy a pig.

So, you could be patient and wait... or you could (potentially) overpay but who knows prices may just keep rising for a while because there is so much money chasing assets thanks to our govmnt policies.